It's Hard to Invade the World when You're in Love
by Volatile321
Summary: Cyniclons..are the an alien species supreme to humans and Dren knows it. He's intent on pursuing Zoey at his leisure, until an experiment goes desperately wrong...but that leaves Zoey free to fall in love with him. Takes place around episode 14.
1. Just the beginning

Author's Note : It's not beta read nor do I own any characters but I hope it'll be interesting! Dren's a little more snappy, growly in this interpretation :) also I haven't finished watching the anime, so hopefully it doesnt clash badly with remaining episodes! D: That being said...go ahead :)

Zoey lay on the grass in the woods beside the park and gave a sigh of relief. It was one of those rare days where she felt at peace with herself, the world was quiet for now, Mark was still the love of her life and she didn't even have to work at all. She grinned to herself as she thought about him, her expression showing all the smugness of a contended cat. But as perfect life was, there was something she just couldn't get off her chest...she found her mind wandering onto the strange Alien Dren...wondering why ever he was so interested in her.

Within the fourth dimension, Dren gnashed his fangs together furiously. He'd just lost favour with Deep Blue and now was suffering Tarb and Sardon's sneers and insults continuously. There wasn't much to do inside the fourth dimension except get teased, so he soon retired to his own quadrant to shut out the relentless verbal attacks. Inside his own "room", he pulled out a parasitic alien from subspace. He toyed with it absent mindedly with his short claws whilst his thoughts were in a turmoil, "How can it be little parasite, that she has forgotten who I am?"

The parasite make a "twang" sound as he tugged at the frills of its jelly like body. "That's right, she may have just been too young." He grew a small scowl as the parasite squirmed slightly trying to escape his grasp. "She was only small when I first visited this blue planet...but a vow is a promise. It's a bond that continues after death, through space, and even at the borders of the universe. But most importantly she said yes."

"Is pretty lover boy at home?" Tarb's voice cajoled interrupting his thoughts. The smaller elven figure's head hung in mid air as he peeked into Dren's quadrant, before letting his body follow through the eerie green background.

"He's not home." Dren sighed tiredly, he snapped his fingers and the parasite disappeared into a ripple. "What do you want?" He snapped turning to face the rude intruder.

"Nothing much." Tarb said simply with a grin on his child like face.

"Then go find Sardon to annoy." Dren told him drearily and lay on his back floating in mid air, closing his eyes as he heard Tarb again.

"Actually ,we're going to do recon on this planet for some specimens. And Sardon thought it'd be sensible to tell you not to leave. We can't risk those Mew Mews catching you...because you're so pathetic and everything." And he stuck his tongue out at him as Dren rolled over so his back faced Tarb without saying a word. "Can't risk that pink one breaking your heart now can we?" He didn't get a reaction and added "Later loser." before exiting though a ripple of green.

"Eurgh, creepy little squirt needs a good back hand slap to the face." Dren snarled angrily, bunching his fists up. "He and Sardon don't stand a chance against those Mew Mews. I could...I'd take them both out, one at a time." And he snarled to himself knowing that they were strong partners in battle. "Bah! What do I care? They can tear themselves up as much as they want, that leaves me in clear running to destroy those girls for once and for all. Then Deep Blue will know who's the strongest." Even as he thought wickedly about invading planet Earth deep inside he could feel a familiar twist of his stomach. It unsettled him greatly. He wasn't ill, but still he felt uncomfortable. Biting his lip slightly, he sat up and looked around. It was all quiet...just him and him alone, as always.

Waving his hand in the air, he drew up a sphere of magic and prodded it's centre with his finger. Instantly ripples appeared spreading across it and an image of a girl appeared. There was something so enticing about the way her hair was tied up in bunches, how supple her limbs were as she stretched and how cute her expression was, which was currently smug as she basked in the sun's rays. Feeling a rise of uplifting emotion inside him, he quickly swept the sphere of magic away into nothing with his hand. He felt guilt ridden inside and his hands felt sullied at his spy like behaviour. It was almost perverse but he couldn't help his attraction to her. At most he only ever stole a glance at her for a few seconds before wrestling back into his own nature.

It went against him to be so attracted to her. He should like creatures of his own species...creatures with long elven ears, often adorned with rings and jewels to show wealth and power. The females on his desolate planet were often eye catching, tall, elegantly dressed, feminine and with deadly grace. Yet he yearned for a short, young woman, with stubbly ears unlike his own and a hot temper so unbecoming a female. "Eurgh stop it Dren. You're getting the better of yourself." He thought with a growl of disgust and shook his head rapidly from side to side to clear his mind.

Feeling not much better he thought he'd venture out into the blue planet and do some recon of his own. You never knew, when recon information would in handy.

Zoe gave a great yawn and sat up feeling quite stiff. She rubbed at her eyes and looked around blearily. "Wow, Mini Mew I must have dozed off...it's almost six o'clock and I'd better get a move on! Otherwise I'll miss dinner!" The pink fur ball gave a chirrup in agreement and Zoey quickly gathered her school jacket and phone up before heading off at a brisk jog. She reached the bridge joining the parkland and the city, and it stretched majestically with an arch over the lake that ran beneath it. The sunlight was dimming quickly and cast the area into a swathe of warm tones, and shockingly she noticed a figure sat on the short wall of the bridge as it came into view.

He leant perilously forwards, his head tucked low on his chest and between his shoulders and as she slowed to a walk she feared he was going to throw himself head first into the water. Out of curiosity she watched, moving so that she was being a thin berry bush...and he shifted himself a fraction closer to the water. She gave a soft gasp, "Mini Mew...you don't really think he's going to?", and the pink creature flew up to her head height,

"Predasite! Predasite!"

"Oh hush! I want to see what he's going to do-"

"Zoey – Predasite –Zoey!" And she huffed at it moodily and glanced around carefully,

"Look Mini Mew there's nothing around here!" Zoey told it in mild annoyance, "But look at the boy, he's moved even closer! I have to stop him- the waters deep!" And she broke from her cover of shrubbery. She ran full pelt towards him, anticipation fuelling her fiercely. "Hey- Hey stop!" At the very instant she was about to reach for his hand, he pushed himself off the wall. Her instinct ran reflexes were shot into action, ears and tail sprouting instantaneously as she willed herself to move so much faster. And sure enough she caught him clumsily by the wrist within a heartbeat.

There was an angry yelp when they made contact. She gave a gasp as the body she held swung limply above the water. Above everything she saw a very surprised stricken expression gazing into her eyes, before registering the sadness pooled in his eyes.

"Well...hello kitty cat." Dren almost purred, snapping Zoey back to her senses. At once that spark of a connection vanished and she at once let go of his wrist without hesistation.

"If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have tried so hard!" She spat angrily, transforming at once into her Mew Mew form. Dren fell a few inches before letting his magic course through his body allowing him to levitate easily back up to the bridge.

"It's her...it's actually her...what a coincidence." He mused to himself, letting his familiar smug grin spread across his face. "What are you doing here at this time of day?" Zoey asked him harshly, the hairs on her tail and ears stood on end. She knew she was no match for a fusion monster and Dren together...but still she'd have to try. "Well? Where's the predasite!" she asked him fiercely, and Dren gave a low chuckle.

He faded from view and reappeared behind her on his back, casually drifting where she gave a hiss turning to face him. "I'm afraid there is no predasite my sweet." He sighed looking at her through half closed eyes, "I was just here, minding my own business...enjoying the sweet, polluted air of your atmosphere and gazing at the lake."

"Yeah right...as if you have a soft spot for scenery watching." She scoffed and he looked at her with a fanged smile,

"You'd be surprised Mew Mew Zoey, I happen to have a very artistic nature and love all things with life flowing through them." And he rolled onto his front and floated up to her face. His boyish face grinned at her as he said, "Things such as you."

"Eurgh get away from me you freak!" Zoey spat at him, striking out at him with her fist but he faded away again and she hit nothing but air.

"Ouch, your words do sting as always!" Dren chuckled giving her a cheeky wink, "But I do like it." He told her darkly, "Nothing better then a little spat between old married couples I'd say!"His tone brightening up, and he struck out a hand that pinched the end of her nose playfully.

"Get off me!" Zoey snarled slapping his hand away. Dren sat up cross legged in the air, flexing the hand gently,

"Fiesty as always, and exactly how I like you." He laughed at her. Zoey could only feel frustration creep up inside of her with every note of his voice, it was almost too much to bear,

"Stop telling me that you like me! It's all I ever hear off you!" She yelled at him and stamped her foot childishly. Dren looked surprised for a moment and if she saw that, he gave no indication that it had happened.

"I just can't help it kitty. These things have just got to be said, perhaps you'd like me tell you that I'm going to destroy you – or is it that I'm the wrong person saying it?" And he said it with such meaning that it stopped Zoey in the heat of her anger.

"Aha...aha...I don't know what you're on about." She said sheepishly and held a hand to the back of her head while grinning nervously. Already she had a strong blush running across her cheeks and as clear as day Dren saw it.

He scowled and dropped to his feet on the bridge, feeling the cool stone against his hand when he ran it along the wall of the bridge. "So where is precious Mark then? Should he not be here defending you against big bad me?" He asked her loftily and Zoey glared him.

"I can handle myself fine. Mark is safer wherever he is...away from you definitely." She told him stolidly.

"Of course you are." He said with a roll of his eyes and playful grin.

"Why were you trying to jump in the lake?" He asked him sharply.

"Hmm...I wasn't trying to do that. I was trying to look at my reflection." And he grinned even broader. Zoe saw the grin but decided to go offensive anyway, she never knew when a predasite would show up.

"I can take care of myself you freak!" She snarled and lunged at him with a punch aiming at his face squarely. Dren gave a soft sigh, his eyes saw things almost in slow motion as he caught her gloved fist in the palm of his hand easily and without damage. He grabbed it and pulled it to the side of his head, he caught and held the second punch she threw with her spare hand. With her hands incapacitated in his own he pulled them and she was thrown off balance into him with the help of a tactical knock to her leg that sent her flying into the air with such a force that knocked them both to the ground. Dren had cushioned them with a float of his magic so that they lay suspended in the air inches from the stone.

"Isn't this a familiar situation." Dren purred playfully as Zoey bared her fangs at him, he wound his legs against hers, trapping them in a body lock. She struggled ferociously, and even tried to head butt him but with no avail as he simply dodged it and leant forwards to nip her ears gently every time.

After a few minutes of relentless struggling her strength weakened and she was still straddled awkwardly across him, he still had a smug, happy grin on his face whilst hers was beaded with sweat and anger. "Alright Dren...I give up. You're stronger than me. And I know it."

"Well it's about time you realized that little wifey!" Dren chuckled loudly. His lips spread in a grin almost from ear to ear. Once Zoey had stopped moving, she took a minute to look at him. His features were almost of an elven human, long tapered ears and a slim frame. Her Mew Mew senses tingled as she locked eyes with him unwillingly, she could see inside that he was sad and lost just as the other Mew Mew girls had been. It was one shared connection they had, and Zoey would remember that chilling loneliness in his eyes, and it sent the fur on her tail tingling. She wouldn't be able to forget it for a long time.

Dren must have sensed this probing of his inner emotions, and threw her off hastily quickly masking his eyes with his usual confidence sheen. "Kitty cat finally realized how good looking I am?" He asked her loudly, marvelling at his own bravado. Zoe picked herself gingerly off the floor after hitting the wall of the bridge, and muttered,

"I wouldn't bet on it." Dren watched her curiously, she brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked at him with such a serious expression that he had he restrain himself from pulling at her cheeks.

"I've seen inside you Dren." She told him almost ominously. He frowned a little but let her carry on. "You're so lonely...My Mew Mew powers let me sense...and it's so cold inside your eyes. So, so cold." And she gave a little shudder, hugging her arms tightly. "It's like you have no family, no warmth...nothing inside."

Dren was taken aback, with her lips she was spilling everything he had locked away. And he hated it. He gave an almighty hiss and fired a warning shot beside her breaking a great chunk of the bridge inches away from her foot. She back flipped away from striking range and he swallowed hard. Her expression so blatantly told him that she pitied him greatly and he gave an inhuman howl, it was guttural instinct that drew that action. She listened with a fluttering inside her own heart...

"Stop looking like that at me!" He snarled at her after, his pupils dilated with anger.

"I can't Dren – Not until you tell me why you've become like this because there must have been a time-" She whimpered softly.

"SHUT UP!" Dren yelled firing copious blasts of energy from the palms of his hand, he aimed loosely not caring how much destruction he wrecked and Zoey nimbly avoided them.

"I don't want to fight- to talk! You like talking I know it!" She called back at him from the bough of a tree hidden from view, and Drew raced into the forest to find her. He scanned the area keenly and gave a gasp as Zoey pinned him to the floor from above, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

"There must have been one moment in your entire life when you felt happy!" She yelled into his ears. And as sensitive as they were, they were left ringing with her voice as she bounded away onto her feet.

"Happy?" He spat, "I'm perfectly happy destroying and wrecking lives!" And he picked himself up. Zoey cocked her head to the side a little and thought,

"Hmm...I actually think that it's just mischievous behaviour. I know you don't really want to destroy the human race, we could always share our planet!"

Dren grew a wicked smile, "My sweet, sweet naive cat. This planet can only sustain one dominant race. You humans didn't know how to cultivate it well enough and my race should usurp your civilization and nurture it back to it's full glory."

"So you originally...were a nurturing race of aliens..." Zoey mused aloud, "A bit hard to imagine you as a farmer though." And he scowled back to her sheepish grin.

"We're not farmers. We're advanced being with powers at our finger tips...we've travelled here before and concluded that this planet would be the easiest for an invasion and regeneration. But of course you were too young to remember seeing us."

"Are...are you trying to tell me that we've met before?" Zoey said, her own voice feeling so distant as she contemplated this situation.

Dren shrugged and gave a sigh, "Cat's out of the bag now Mew Mew. But you have met us before, me specifically." He didn't seem eager to continue, so Zoey spoke up, inside she hoped that they would show a glimmer of his true self. And perhaps he was an innocent being moulded into an evil entity by some other force off this world.

"Tell me when please." She asked him softly. Dren was ready to shoot back a sharp rebuttal, but he met with her eyes and any guards he held up in his mind were dropped. He'd have to treat this weakness of his back in his quadrant, but for now there was a story to be told.

"Alright Kitty cat. You asked for this...it's a heart wrenching, desperate tale of struggle, survival, betrayal and anguish. You'll be crying your heart out after this story of poor orphan Dren." He feigned a pose with the back of his hand against his forehead and heart.

Zoey gave him a cold stare and he smiled lightly. "Well it's partly true..." He mumbled and sat down cross legged on the cool grass. Zoey did the same but there still was a great deal of distance between them.

"I don't suppose you remember being rather young and dressing up as a princess as always?" He asked her, cupping his feet in his hand and rocked slightly, looking as if he enjoyed the conversation he was holding with her.

"I don't remember no, but I do remember seeing photographs of me dressed up in a pink ball gown."

"That's the one, with a lovely pink, glittery bow at the back." Dren said smugly. "You were playing with your cousin in the back garden on the day I landed on Earth. It was a beautiful story you had created, you were a princess locked in a tower far away, and she was about to rescue and marry you."

"And live happily forever after." Zoey said softly, remembering that this was her favourite sentence having scrawled it across all of her diaries.

"Exactly." Dren said with a nod, he pulled himself closer to her before continuing. "Well, I'd crash landed in your garden, and hid behind some tree. I was fascinated-"

"Why...was you here on Earth all the way back then?" Zoey interrupted. Her curious nature was getting the better of her but she couldn't resist the instinctual pull that came with her Mew Mew powers.

"To put it simply, my alien race of people don't age like you my sweet cat. We go through forms of life, for example, there is your birth, then you transform into a child, an adolescent, an adult, death. But these transitions are instant and can take place against will after a certain number of centuries have passed."

"Like... a caterpillar to a butterfly. How...old are you?" Zoey asked tentatively.

"Hmm...two hundred or so years...I lost count." He said with a shrug, and as she stared wide eyed at him he gave a little cough, "But that's not the point gorgeous. What is, is that I was a child when arriving on Earth. We were better suited as our ears hadn't developed so prominently. Like these." And he tugged at one of his own, they were surprisingly flexible Zoey thought with a giggle.

What happened was I watched you and your cousin playing, curious as I always am, but then your cousin had to leave and you threw up an almighty hissy fit."

"I do not do hissy fits!" Zoey hissed and Dren raised an eyebrow almost comically, and she mumbled, "Maybe just a little..." and toyed with the glove on her hand instantly.

"Well what happened was this." Dren said softly. And reached a finger up to the centre of her forehead. He gave a small start as she hadn't realised how close he'd crept to her, they were sitting quite close. Instantly her vision became faded and blurred. Almost as if someone with a bad rubber had smudged the edges to everything.

_"WAAAAAHHH! WAAAAAAAAAAHH! WAAAAAAAAAAHH!"_

Zoey span round to find the source of noise and the blood in her veins paled as she realised she was watching herself. As a bawling child, dressed in a princess costume.

_"Oh hush Zoey, you can finish you're game on your own...I have work honey."_ Her younger mother said, kissing the top of her head before retreating inside closing the door tightly.

"WAAAAAHH!"

There was a loud rustling noise and both Zoey's turned to the commotion. Out stepped a raggedly looking boy, with slightly pointed tips on his ears. _"I'd be happy to play the prince if you let me."_ He said her quietly.

Child Zoey looked at him suspiciously for a moment before deciding finishing the game was crucial. _"Okay, you'll have to dress up though."_ And she held out a long, blue velvet cloak that a younger Dren swung around his neck eagerly.

Zoey watched the two children play, her knees tucked close to her chin. She felt sadness run through her as it occurred that these two happy children would one day grow to be enemies each with a different cause. After a few hours had passed, came a crucial moment that stung Zoey so bad she wondered how she had ever forgotten.

_"Aren't you going to say you like me?"_ Younger Zoey demanded, her face a little scowl. Dren looked at her rather bemused,

_"Why would I say that?"_ he asked naively.

_"Because you got to tell me that you love me otherwise I won't marry you!"_ Zoey explained exasperatedly and jammed a plastic crown on her head.

_"Do I have to?_" Whined Dren, tilting his head to the side a little.

_"Yes, otherwise I won't marry you."_ She told him firmly. Dren sighed a little, perhaps not fully knowing what he was about to say and looked her in the eye,

_"Alright then...I love you Zoey."_ Dren said so seriously, that future Zoey almost took it as a confession of feelings. However her younger form merely ran round the garden squealing in delight, unaware of how embarrassed Dren looked.

_"You know my Prince! I like you too, so let's start this marriage!"_ Zoey insisted, grabbing Dren's arm and hooking hers through it so that they were linked together. She hummed a loud wedding tune and younger Dren went along with it, confused as he was to human ceremonies.

_"Now you gotta ask me if I want to marry you!"_ She ordered and Dren did as she was told,

_"Do you want to marry me?"_ He asked tentatively,

_"Yes!"_ She answered immediately, _"Now I'll do the same to you!"_ And so she did. The elder Zoey looked at poor Dren who had a rather perplexed expression on him, _"Now you gotta kiss the bride!"_ the younger girl demanded, her small fists bunched up tightly. Even Dren leaned away slightly.

_"K-kiss the bride?"_ He stammered, _"Isn't the bride...you?"_ He said his face growing a strong blush. But the younger girl's face was impassive and she continued demanding as so. _"O-okay..."_ Dren muttered eventually. The two children kissed lightly.

The elder Zoey held her breath, yet she knew this was true. Unconsciously she touched her own lips with her hand. When the two children parted, they shared a moment that was broken almost immediately. Dren became bathed in a blinding white light, it was being emitted from his very skin from each and every pore. And he staggered back looking so fearful, looking frightfully at his hands whilst younger Zoey stumbled back slowly, her mouth agape.

After a short yell from Dren, the light intensified around him and it grew larger. Zoey could only watch with shock as Dren fell to the floor in a heap, her own younger self frozen in fear, clutching her hands so close to her chest. His body was smoking...wafts of it were visible in the still air, and acrid smell hung about and he groaned slightly as he began to stand up.

Clutching his head with a hand he stood up groggily. And Mew Mew Zoey leapt to her feet. This was the Dren she he had just transformed into his present state of adolescent. _"Urgh...Z-zoey...are you still there?"_ Dren asked blearily opening his eye a fraction. He saw the little girl and reached out for her, to ask for help. It wasn't even a threatening gesture. But still younger Zoey screamed, long and loud.

Her parents burst into the garden and shouted at the alien angrily after getting over the initial shock. The alien had no choice but to fade from view, and Mew Mew Zoey watched as her own frail form fainted. "So did this make things clearer?" Dren asked her.

She blinked a few times and found herself looking at the teenage "boy", they were back in the forest and everything was so clear to her now. It seemed as if the teenage looking alien had shown her too much and looked almost awkward drawing away from her a little. "I-I understand." Zoey mumbled. Trying to collect her wits about her.

"Well...the feeling mutual my sweet." Dren said solemnly. He shot forwards and stole a kiss. Zoey didn't resist, her mind numb from shock, her body stiff from the cold. It was a long and lasting kiss, his tongue rasped on her lips so gently and teasingly, so much so that she almost parted them. He drew away satisfied so to speak, at the contact between them and looked at her.

"I...I don't know what to say..." Zoey muttered, her cheeks flushing a dark pink.

"There's nothing to say Zoey." Dren said. He stood up and looked at her in the evening light, "For a creature like me, an alien raised only to invade and fight...a moment like this and a moment back then is enough. You've made yourself special to me, although I've no doubt you already know."

"I...I didn't mean-" Zoey replied feeling so crushed with guilt, that this individual had nothing more than to draw happiness from pleasant memories and but a few snatches of the past and present.

"There is nothing to feel sad about Mew Mew." Dren said his smug expression returning. "You've got other things to worry about." He snapped his fingers and a fusion parasite appeared in the air. He launched it at the thick of a bush and a shocked Zoey leapt to her feet.

"You-"

"Yes I'm devilishly good looking and evil. I know." Dren told her coolly and she could help but fight a smile that was growing. He might be no Samaritan but he had a fighting spirit...that she hoped would one day break free of the force holding him to these evil deeds. And she'd help him...

"Just remember...I do love you." Dren said softly into her ear, before fading from view. And behind her leapt a giant caterpillar predasite...


	2. Studying the Inferior Species

Author's Note : It's a little different to what we first thought Cyniclons as, I've given them a different/unique way of ageing, and explore their powers and culture in this fic, hopefully it'll be interesting to read :) ps. None of it is beta read

Dren gave a long yawn and stretch as he faded lazily back into the fourth dimension. He rubbed his eyes tiredly with the back of his hand, and noticed how heavy his hand felt. He looked at it curiously and thought that the mental projections into Zoey's mind must have tired him out more than he previously thought. He concluded it wasn't easy breaking into a Mew Mew's mind, even harder to wrench their souls into a crystal for storage, and he frowned slightly remembering the impregnable resistance given by the petite Kikki. It was practically an insult, that a creature that small could best nature's benevolently given powers to him.

"Still...there's no harm in a little target practice." He said aloud with another yawn, seeing that the dimension appeared to be devoid of the others. Flexing his short claws slightly he pulled out a few target droids from subspace, the area where anything he ever used were held in their own private universe in which he could freely access. It was a given with his powers. The droids whirred around his head aimlessly, the green nodes of their spherical appearance shining consistently, save for one that blinked rhythmically. "Urgh, what's the blinking for?" Dren murmured quietly, his brow creasing as he thought.

"Talking to droids again?...I see your social contact with members of your own species is alive and thriving." Sardon said dryly. Dren's ears gave a small flick pinpointing the voice. The alien was leant on a pillar, doused in the shadows only his eyes glittered malevolently as he fanned himself slowly with his trademark item.

"If there were others of our species here with me, I assure you that my social graces would be directed towards them." Dren replied keeping his tone immaculately polite. Sardon gave a huff of disbelief and wrinkled his nose up as he stepped out from the shadows.

"You stink of humans." He said lowly, his voice a low rumble. And his eyes darted all over Dren's body accusingly though his face remained passive.

"Of course. I stepped outside for recon." Dren said simply, his mouth pursed tightly as the corner of Sardon's mouth twitched ever so slightly betraying his annoyance.

"And I wonder who ever gave you that authorization?" Sardon asked him sarcastically with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't remember Deep Blue ever saying that I weren't allowed out for recon." The younger Cyniclon replied lightly. Sardon's appearance was much more masculine and heavier built than himself, from a natural born instinct he knew automatically that he was within the adult life cycle. Whereas appearances could be deceiving, such as Tarb who was within the adolescence cycle, a Cyniclon's instinct never lied. Pheromones and assessment of another male were tantamount to seeing or breathing.

"Hmm...still, I'd like you to report to me whenever leaving the fourth dimension."

"Oh course..." Dren said with a grin, "If I remember." The other alien gave him a grim look and faded away from view, back into his own quadrant presumably.

The Cyniclon gave a shrug of indifference and caught the floating droid from the air, he clasped it tightly in his hands and stared at it curiously. "What have we here?" He murmured, he plucked the lid off it and discovered a loose cable. But the space was too confined for his slim hand to fit, so with a gentle movement of his finger the magic weaved its self around the wire pulling it back into its socket. He released the droid and the green light shone brightly in his eyes. "Initiate...battle sequence 4." Dren commanded clearly.

The droids released guns and thin mechanical arms designed to grab and hold. Whilst dodging between shots of hot energy and fast pincers launching themselves at him, he still couldn't clear his mind. He was thinking about Zoey, how there was a secret flutter in his stomach as he replayed the moment where they had kissed. The tenderness of her lips... "Argh!" Dren cried aloud, tumbling to the floor, he fell into a defensive roll and assessed the damage on him immediately.

An ugly scorch mark was left on his pale skin and he gritted his teeth from the stinging pain. "Clearly I'm in no mood to do this training." He quickly sprang into the air above the droids and wrapped his hand in a fast curling motion sucking the droids back into their universe. With a sigh he descended, rubbing the temples of his forehead with a hand, his eyes closed lazily.

"See...I told you he'd quit."

"Hush Tarb...this is only confirmation that he is better suited to agriculture as opposed to fighting." Sardon told the smaller alien who grew an even bigger grin. Dren grew a scowl and stopped nursing his wound,

"I can deal fine in battle without you two bone heads." He spat at them, his ears tilted back to show his frustration.

"Touchy aren't we?" Sardan replied coolly, and Tarb had tensed up threateningly. But Dren had drifted away before he could launch his small body at him. In his quadrant he quickly sealed the entrance with a wall of dark energy preventing the Cyniclons from entering without the use of force. With a relieved sigh he lay on his back, staring up into the timeless ceiling of the dimension.

"Zoey...What does she see in Mark that is so attractive?" Dren mumbled to himself, "He's weak...doesn't have any powers...lacks zero charm and charisma and most importantly doesn't ever make a move on her. She must be so frustrated at him..." He rolled onto his side and tucked his legs up, effectively curling into a foetal position. He knew his race was alien to Zoey, his features were foreign and effectively incomparable to Mark, but still he couldn't ignore the rivalry churning away inside him. Before slipping away into a light nap, he still had Zoey's face imprinted in his mind...he couldn't get rid of it, the pink bangs and the blush that rushed to her face making her irresistible...

On the next day, Dren had woken up, refreshed and charged with power. Giving himself a quick groom and a wash, he removed the energy barrier left up and entered the main chamber. "You are so lame." Tarb told him lightly as he approached.

"You can speak you little runt." The teenaged Cyniclon replied instantly and gave a yawn as Tarb pulled a tongue at him.

"You've been so busy crying over a tiny scratch that you missed Deep Blue's message." The smaller alien said smugly, and levitated into the air cross legged.

"Don't keep him in suspense Tarb." Sardon said his voice monotone as he typed furiously at a keyboard. Dren guessed he was inputting data on as he saw countless numbers and symbols flash up on a large screen suspended in mid air, all of which meant nothing to him.

"Well..." Tarb began playfully but found himself held aloft by the Cyniclon, who had seized the front of his clothes aggressively.

"I would actually like to be outside of this dimension once in a while, so spit it out already." He snarled and Tarb chuckled, his small hands placed on Dren's larger one in an act of subconscious submission.

"Deep Blue just wanted us to try a different way of extracting souls, that's all...also that you should release a Cyniclons where you see fit." The older Cyniclon let him go with a satisfied smirk.

"That's more like it." And he stepped away from him towards Sardon, who merely glanced at his approach before the eyes flicked back to the screen. "I'm going to the amusement park to see if there's anything worth combining into a predasite." There was an arrogance in his tone that suggested he didn't enjoy the lower ranking role he was put in.

"Go." Sardon replied swiftly, his eyes never leaving the screen, and his fingers continued typing furiously. Dren flew through the ceiling of the dimension and out into the open world, where as Sardon ceased his typing after his leave.

"It appears we may have misjudged our mission by using predasites and humans. These disgusting "Mew Mews" appear to be infused with animals also, rendering them as equal so to speak as a predasite. What they lack in undying duty, they make up for in power." Sardon told Tarb, pulling up Zoey's profile in which he had entered the most recent battle data for processing.

"Hmm...that leader of theirs sure isn't much though. I don't know what Dren sees in her." Tarb said, cocking his to the side as if to see Zoey in a different light. "Nope...still the same stinking human."

"You forgot to tell Dren the last bit of Deep Blue's message, to erase the world of this "Zoey"." Sardon said pointedly and the Cyniclon gave him an innocent smile.

"I thought it'd be better to...save it for the last moment. I want maximum impact when I do tell him. His expression will be priceless!" Tarb giggled gleefully and cart wheeled through the air as Sardon continued his data inputting.

Outside in the fresh morning air Dren inhaled deeply. His amber eyes cast around the rooftops of the building, searching for anything extra ordinary. Of course there never was, humans had such drab tastes in advertising, there never was anything to see above average building height. Giving a long stretch, he soon set off at a moderate pace to the amusement park. He was only headed there because a few days ago he'd eavesdropped on one of Zoey's phone calls to Mark, the breathlessness of her attitude made him sick. "Why she even enjoys feeling so self conscious around him is a mystery. It's time to do a little recon...on Mark." Dren muttered to himself with a sly grin. He positioned himself on the gates of the amusement park and sat down, enforcing a small camouflage shield around him so not to draw attention.

A while later and he saw Mark. The dark eyes and hair were striking against his tanned complexion, Dren noticed, comparing it to his milky toned skin and dull green hair. With an even greater scowl he pricked his ears up as he heard Zoey's voice call out "Mark!"

"Hey there!" Mark replied with a small smile and turned to face the girl in a summer dress, with a rosy blush to her face.

"Hiya...sorry about being so late, the train was running a bit behind the times." She spoke speedily and in a higher pitch of voice as she looked at the floor embarrassed. Mark's smile didn't grow nor wane but he merely said,

"Let's go in then."

"Let's go in then." Dren mimicked quietly, his amber eyes fixated on the couple. He also noticed how Mini Mew ,who was acting as a phone accessory, casting his big eyes around searching for something. _"I'll have to catch that little furball before he alerts Zoey." _He thought wisely to himself.

Dren walked behind the couple at a distance, he was still cloaked with his camouflage shield so that he appeared the same colour as the background and nothing more than a shadow in the corner of a human's eye. He watched with fascination as the male of couples all around him bought drinks for their female counterpart, and Mark had done the same for Zoey. _"My information is badly lacking on human culture...perhaps this is their way of "dating"?" _He thought. As interested as he was in Zoey and Mark's relationship, the alien intelligence and curiosity within him was taking in all the information he could. The processed food the humans ate, these "hot dogs" and "doughnuts", his mouth watered at the delicious smell wafting from a stand, but he watched curiously as Mark beside him purchased two drinks, exchanging small silver coins for them. Dren peered at his face closer, sure the boy was ugly to him but perhaps this appearance was desirable to humans. The narrow nose, soft eyes and beaming smile were all characteristics that Dren imprinted on his mind as the boy ran back to Zoey.

"Here, I got you lemonade." He said passing her a can,

"Thanks." She said taking it, they opened the cans with a hiss and slurped down the cool liquid greedily. "Ah, that's so much better, I can't believe its so hot today!"

"Yeah it is." Mark agreed with her. They sat there for a moment, Zoey perhaps too shy to talk. But Dren observed their interaction closely, the teenage boy as far as he could see never made an attempt to approach Zoey in a physical way but played it safe, agreeing to anything she said, there was no opinions exchanged and he wondered how humans managed to create the "life long bond of love" if they couldn't share intimate thoughts to each other.

"Hey, should we go on the Ferris wheel?" Mark asked cheerily, she gave a small jump at first but then smiled at him,

"Sure, why not? I love the Ferris Wheel!" And they walked towards it together, their hands didn't brush against each other though Zoey walked close to him.

Dren watched with sickening frustration as they entered the confined space together, clearly she had been too nervous about being in close proximity with him alone yet Mark hadn't picked up on that, "How insensitive" He grumbled after them. As the wheel began spinning slowly around lifting them high in the air, they gasped at the scenery their view provided, Zoey pressing her face close to the glass walls. The alien could not enter their carriage but floated lazily along side of it. His sensitive ears could pick up the conversation comfortably through the thick glass, which stopped Mini Mew's sensors from picking up his presence.

"Wow, the view here is so high up...it's amazing!" Zoey laughed with glee as the carriage gracefully moved upwards.

"Pah! I could show her views from outer space if she let me." Dren spat aloud angrily and crossed his arms moodily as Mark got off the seat to join Zoey, he stood behind her and put a hand on the glass so that they stood close to each other, his presence and warmth looming close to her. The alien scowled darkly at the boy who was making her face go cherry red in colour.

"These views really are something else." Mark said softly, and his other hand snuck beside Zoey to hold hers gently. The Cyniclon's sensitive ears heard the gasp from Zoey and ,just about, the rapid beating of her heart, her eyes had glazed over a little as her love got the better of her.

"Alright I've seen enough!" Dren snarled in jealousy, he snapped the shield away and appeared with an angry look at the surprised couple. Thrusting his open palm at the pair of them that clung tightly to one another, he unleashed a burst of colourless energy that shattered a large hole in the glass. Immediately Mini Mew issued cries of warning and fluttered about the human's heads, it flapped its wings furiously to avoid being pulled out by the pressure of air.

"It's YOU again!" Zoey shouted along, pressing herself close to Mark for a moment trying not to forget that blissful scenario she had experienced moments before.

"Of course it is sweet cheeks." Dren told her coldly, the pupils of his eyes were slits as he rose to a greater height to observe them easier. "Have I ever told you that you make me _sick_?" He rolled the word "sick" on his tongue and relished the syllable it made on his vocal chords. "The pair of you...it almost makes me want to leave this world."

"Then leave already if you hate it so much!" Zoey yelled at him ferociously, though she clung herself closed to Mark. Her hands were twisted tightly into his shirt and his arms wound round her small frame, he gave her an odd glance as the familiarity showed between her and the alien.

"Who are you?" Mark called out at the scrawny teenaged looking boy, with pointed ears. He scowled as Dren gave a mocking laugh and twirled a lock of his dark hair between two fingers,

"I am Dren, servant of the mighty Deep Blue, invader of planet Earth and...sworn enemy of the precious Mew Mews." He told him in one breath, "Such a pathetic name don't you think Mark? "Mew Mews"...typical for a bunch of high schoolers."

"I don't know anything about "Mew Mews"!" Cried Mark almost desperately, "What do you want?" And he shifted his body slightly so it shielded Zoey more.

"I want..." Dren began and tapped his chin with a slender finger, but then Zoey pulled away from Mark and stood in front of him.

"He wants me." She said with a serious tone and Dren raised his eyebrows slightly. "Go on then, you want to fight so-" He stopped her there with a lick of his small fangs. It sent shivers of apprehension from her very toes to the core of her body, and those eyes...the entrancing amber orbs fixated on something _behind _her.

"As much as I supposedly want you Zoey." And he moved a finger on her face so that a claw traced her jaw line gently, the very fibre of her body suppressed a shudder at the alien touch skimming across her skin. "It's not you today." As quick as Zoey wanted to leap into the air to transform she held back for fear of Mark and froze as Dren seized her by the neck. He flung her easily into the air with inhuman strength and with a sneer motioned his hand, curving his fingers to his palm, so that in mid air Zoey was badly stunned by an emerald wave of magic that also cocooned her body. It was almost a bubble suspending her from harm. Outside Mini Mew fluttered around in a mad panic.

Dren turned his attention to Mark who was screaming hoarsely at Zoey as she remained incapacitated, the teenager was on his hands and knees, with an arm out stretched desperately at her. "BRING HER BACK!" He shouted at Dren when she became too distant to make out.

"No. Not until we've had a little chat." The Cyniclon stated seriously, there wasn't a hint of playfulness about him now. He folded his arms and entered the broken Ferris wheel carriage as Mark scrabbled away on the floor hastily. After sealing the broken glass with his powers to stop the gusts of wind, only then did Dren looked closely at Mark.

And Mark at Dren. A minute passed in silence as the two males weighed each other up subconsciously. Dren was much more competent and powerful than the human, this much was clear to Mark and already the alien had seemingly gathered much information on him. There wasn't a hope in hell at defeating him in combat of any sort.

"Tell...why is Zoey so infatuated with you?" Mark blanched at the question but he quickly picked himself off the floor and brushed dirt and glass specks from his hands that had caused tiny scratches.

"That's none of your business!" The teenager snarled, bunching his hands into tight fists.

"Is it because you "love" each other?" Dren drawled aloud giving the word "love" a sarcastic roll on his tongue. He twitched an ear as Mark tensed even further.

"Yes. I love her and she loves me." He felt decisively raw as this...alien searched for answers so private and deep within him.

"WRONG." Dren spat aloud venomously, "What do you humans know of "love", you see a pretty girl and think that you're perfect for each other without indulging in each other deepest desires. And of course it ends up as a fleeting love story, pathetic. It's just the same old story." He bared his fangs in anger and gleaned pleasure from the fear that riveted on Mark's face. "I've seen the way you act around each other, it couldn't have been any more awkward than having her mother "date" your father."

"Shut up!" Mark said aloud, his voice quavered terribly so and Dren's sensitive ears heard it more than clearly.

"You know it's true." He said silkily and grinned as Mark gnashed his teeth together, "But what do you know? I've ignited a passion in Zoey's heart that even she didn't know was possible. What's more we're actually comfortable around each other...so to speak. Strangely enough she won't even look at you without feeling embarrassed, do you even take into consideration how awkward and flustered she feels around you?" He asked and felt the curved tip of his ear. It was a habit he had fell into whenever he felt the need to fidget. "But, I'm wasting my breath. You'd never amount to anything like me."

"She hates you, I know she does!" Mark retorted in a feeble attempt to defy Dren, he had no answer to the question. His soul felt bare and naked as the Cyniclon wrapped his power around everything he ignored and brought it kicking and screaming into the light.

"That's a rich thought, that you "know" what she feels. I think we'll agree that you don't know a thing about her. All in all, I'd rather deny she hates me." Dren said loftily and flicked his hair in annoyance. "I think we're done here, "pretty boy"...why humans ever find you attractive is a mystery to me." He finished cattily giving him a withering look and dove out of the carriage with surprising grace, the magic faded allowing the gusts of wind to billow around Mark who hung to the seats grimly. Zoey was not in his vision and of her fate he knew nothing.

Dren descended easily to where Zoey was a few hundred metres off the floor. With a snap of his fingers he released her from her stunned conscience and she looked at him blearily though the pale emerald prison. "What...have you done with Mark?" she asked him weakly. He knew her head was throbbing from exposure to his magic and revelled in deep delight that she was a weaker creature than him.

"You should go and find out." Dren sneered and laughed as Zoey scrabbled against the smooth walls of the bubble.

"Let me out!" She screamed with all her might after a moment of struggle. For a few minutes Dren did nothing, he floated in mid air and surveyed her with his mischievous eyes. "What is it! Are you bored! Is that why you ruined my date with Mark!" Zoey screamed at him, frustration forced her ears and tail to pop out.

In reality Dren was simply wondering how he was ever entranced by her looks, she was nothing but a human. Her appearance echoing a shod form of a Cyniclon...but it was her determined yet inferior life that attracted him. As a higher species it was nature's law he was allowed to pick and choose a mate for life, yet he knew only this girl would kick and fight every step of the way despite her acknowledging his power. "I hope cats always land on their feet." He said dryly and released her from her prison, catching her off guard.

Zoey yelped with surprise, Dren's pale face the last thing she saw before images blurred before her. Immediately she transformed, and instinct twisted her body into a falling position and soon she deftly landed on her feet. Her limbs shook from the force, but she was alive. "Dren – come out and fight!" She shouted aloud, scanning the skies above her proved fruitless. The Cyniclon had disappeared.

Noticing the interested attention on her from the public she hurriedly dashed into a thick clump of bushes to revert into her original form. Afterwards she scurried around the Ferris wheel searching for Mark.

"Zoey- there you are- you're alright!" He called out, they ran into each other's arms through an unspoken consent. Zoey gave a sigh of relief,

"I was so scared...I thought you were dead."

"No...I thought you were dead. What was that thing? He had powers I'd have never dreamed of...and the things he said, it was as if he could see inside of you." He gave a small shudder and shut his eyes. Zoey sympathized with him, knowing exactly how he felt. The Cyniclons were a frightful race of creatures indeed.

"What did he say?" Zoey asked tenderly and leant on his chest,

"He...He...didn't...ah, this is a bad time Zoey." Mark said with an air of finality and a sigh so that she wouldn't push him for answers, he even moved away from her a little. They soon left the fair in silence, each considering their encounter with Dren.

Mini Mew left Zoey then to flutter back to the Mew Mew cafe, and there Elliot and Wesley had poured over the computer screens with much interest. They had activated Mini Mew's camera after the Cyniclon alert, only to find surprising revelations. "It's actually disturbing how easily he can disable a Mew Mew." Wesley murmured, the finger tapping at an image of Zoey cocooned in the bubble. "And here I thought we were in for a fair fight."

"Indeed." Elliot replied darkly, "We need more information...at least we've learned something about "Dren"."

"That his obsession with Zoey is so deep?" Wesley suggested and Elliot nodded,

"Also that his powers appear to be concentrated to his hands...look." And he wound the video to the instant of Zoey's confinement. Sure enough a faint green glow had gathered in the centre of the Cyniclon's palm, it was so faint that without squinting and magnification it would be invisible to the naked eye.

"This is interesting...if we could capture him...I'd be more than interested in running tests." Wesley murmured and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

"That's a very good suggestion." Elliot said with the beginnings of a smirk growing.


	3. Studying the Superior Species

Zoey sat at the desk of her English class, her eyes looked out listlessly at the board and she tapped the rubber end of a pencil against her desk repeatedly, it was all very normal and boring. She thought and concentrated on nothing but Mark, his mixed response after Dren's intervention left her nothing but worried. It'd been days after the fair and neither of them had contacted each other, she sometimes caught glimpses of him around the school grounds but he always seemed to slip away before she could approach him. Giving an almighty sigh she finally closed her eyes for a second.

"Zoey. Pay attention!" The teacher barked and she straightened up instantly, her hair wild and eyes snapped wide open.

"Yes Miss."

"Good. Now tell me what this is." The woman pointed at an image pulled up on the slide show. Zoey got to her feet in a numbed stupor, her hands were placed flat on the desk and her mouth gaped open ungainly.

"T-thats..."

"Zoey are you okay?" The teacher asked in concern, lowering her glasses at her. "You're behaving very odd."

"Yes Miss...it's an elf." Zoey mumbled and plonked back on her seat, feeling herself blush at her reaction. Shrugging off her behaviour the teacher continued the lesson.

"Now class, some of you may be more familiar about these creatures of fantasy than others. These are Elves as Zoey said, and are most commonly used in fiction. The word "elf" is treated as an abstract noun as you would treat the word "dream", as it physically isn't real to touch but it does exist within the world." The knowledge sunk into Zoey faster than any topic ever had.

"It's a Cyniclon. A Cyniclon, a Cyniclon...How did I not see the similarities?" She said under her breath, she was unable to tear her eyes away from the image. It was just a typical concept art for a game but the characters created were of an uncanny likeliness to Dren. Each of them had smooth, pale or tanned skin, and dressed in odd fantastical clothing that clung to their frames showing off their athletic, toned bodies. They wore boots that went as high as mid thighs on the men and women, some wore leggings, other shapeless tunics or loin clothes similar to Dren's, swords and bows were hung at hips and across the warrior's chests, whereas others were clearly farmers or foresters. The teacher clicked the computer mouse a few times and different images of Elves popped up, Zoey watched with a transfixed gaze at the race of Elves supposedly formed from fantasy. They looked so much like Cyniclons that she had to bite her lip from screaming at her class how dangerous they were. Different artists portrayed a different length of an Elf's ear, some as large as Dren's or as short as her own.

"Do Elves exist?" She called out, unable to cast this question away or hold her tongue. Already she knew the answer but somehow she desperately needed to hear it from someone else. She gained peculiar looks at her from the members of her class as the teacher replied witheringly,

"No, Zoey they do not. They are fictional characters. Which is exactly what your homework will be based on, I want a detailed summery of how you create interesting fictional characters." And the class groaned in unison, "We shall start it today and to be handed in to me by next week, make a note of it. So class, how do you start a story?"

Zoe wrestled within herself for the duration of the day, she couldn't come to terms with how similar the Elves looked compared to Cyniclons. But the ideals were far too different, one was a race of peace and love, where as the other sought to destroy and invade...She was glad that after school at the Mew Mew cafe she found people who would listen to her.

"Elves you say..." Wesleys muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Well, the idea isn't all wrong, I mean who's to say that the human race created "Elves" from imagination? It could be possible that Cyniclons visited Earth aeons ago." She remembered how Dren had told her of his recon mission in her youth.

"I can't imagine Cyniclons even being good." Zoey said with such venom that surprised Wesley.

And he straightened up in his seat before saying "Well not all humans are good and not all are bad...there must be a balance in life wherever Cyniclons come from." And he sighed as Zoey went to interrupt him again, "But...it's good you're here today, Elliot and I wanted to announce something."

"Oh, what is it?" She asked curiously but he only gave her a dark remark of, "you'll see." and refused to say more despite her whining. Soon, the other Mew Mew members turned up for work and they slaved away, save for Corina, until the evening where Zoey gladly shut the door, sliding the lock into place.

"Geez...I can't believe how hard work is...I'm so glad no Predacons showed up." Kikki sighed, her small body was on the table laid flat out on her back.

"Huh, if Predacons showed up at least it'll be a change from doing this." Corina said giving a small stretch. Zoey held her tongue as Kikki started arguing with the other girl and it soon escalated to the point where they were all snapping at each other, she alone sat at a table with a hand on her head.

"Girls...girls...girls..." Wesley sighed tiredly though he had a beaming smile on his face. He brought out a rich chocolate tart on the trolley and the bickering soon ceased. He was closely followed by Elliot and the pair watched as the Mew Mew team began to tuck into the sweet dessert that melted down all tension and fighting.

"Now that it's quietened down...me and Wesley have a proposition and we'd like you to think about it." Elliot said firmly and the girls listened intently, it wasn't often they had to make group decisions.

"The thing is...we've decided that we don't have enough information about Cyniclons, they're proving a lot more dangerous than we thought..." The smooth haired baker told them. He took a seat and crossed his legs, "Mini Mew brought us back some footage of a recent encounter with the Cyniclon Dren and Zoey. Take a look." Elliot clicked a slideshow pen and an image of Dren was shone onto the wall, with another click the video played.

Much to Zoey's embarrassment they watched in slow motion as Dren incapacitated her easily. The clip ended with an image of her stunned in the bubble. "As you can see here, if Dren really had the intention to kill, none of us would be here. What troubles me is I don't know how much power, magic, energy, whatever you wanted to call it, he can emit. If we push him too far in a battle then Earth will be no more. Or at least a good portion of this city will be obliterated at the very least. Not to mention the other two Cyniclons we've been seeing around lately."

"Which is exactly why, we want to capture Dren. He's the one alien we've had contact with since the threat started. If we can draw him out using Zoey, then we can tranquilize him." Elliot finished and turned off the slide show. He surveyed the shocked expressions that quickly burst into a gaggle of opinions good and bad. He let the noise continue on for a while before holding his hand up for silence, "Okay...let's have a show of hands to capture Dren."

Five hands were held into the air, they belonged to Elliot, Wesley, Kikki, Corina and Renee. "Seeing as only you two didn't put your hands up, then the decision is quite clear." Elliot concluded, "We will however need your help particularly in this Zoey. So if you all transform now, we'll meet you at the Town square when we've gathered up the tranquilizer gun from the lab." He said getting to his feet as the girls groaned, already tired from the day time work.

"We should never had said yes." Renee moaned getting to her feet.

"I don't fancy being bait...and I don't really wanna capture him." Zoey added with a yawn, and was worried about confining a Cyniclon...it would be very dangerous. But within an hour's time, they were all stood in the centre of the empty town square shivering with cold as Zoey called aloud hoarsely for the Cyniclon.

Elliot hugged his arms as he stared at the cool, calm sky, "When will these damn aliens show up?" He muttered to Wesley,

"Give them time, I'm sure they can't resist a fight or at least Dren can't resist Zoey."

"Hopefully. The information we can gather from him will be valuable."

"You're right...we need him seeing as he's our main nemesis right now. And we need an edge on these aliens."

Sat on a tree bough was Tarb, his body cast in shadow by Sardon and Dren, all three of them bore grim expressions. "What do you think they want?" Tarb asked with a low hiss,

"If anything what bothers me it is that gun containing liquid that the blonde one is holding." Sardon said dryly, pointing his fan towards the human. "It makes my instincts curl up in distaste."

"It seems too much like a trap to me." Dren said softly, his sensitive ears picking up on the voice calling out "Dren". They were too far off to pick up the full sentences.

"Of course it is." Sniffed Tarb,

"You aren't thinking of doing anything crazy now would you?" Dren asked him silkily.

"Only if you count setting it off as crazy." The small alien replied curtly.

"Most wise." Sardon replied in a low tone but said nothing else to dissuade the alien. The small figure fired a blast into the centre of the square causing screams to echo around the night. They at once recognised him as the "little one" and set about trying to chase him away.

Sardon watched with cold, calculating eyes as Tarb flitted around easily never drawing too near the blonde teenager with the gun who hadn't shifted from his place. Dren however was more interested in Zoey who still continued calling his name. "You may as well get down there." Sardon said quietly, watching as the Mew Mew team grew increasingly slow and inaccurate as their weariness got the better of them. "They're so worn down now, they may as well not be a threat." He added watching Tarb bounce around with endless energy.

Dren nodded and dropped silently to the floor, his cat like eyes watched the interaction closely. It troubled him that it was so meticulous, Zoey would call his name repeatedly whilst the rest of the group kept Tarb occupied, and the two men would stay by the van constantly. He strode out towards Zoey who's face paled a shade in the dim streetlights.

"What do you want?" He asked her blandly. His eyes never left the men who's attention snapped to him doggedly, he locked eyes with Elliot and knew this was a situation he didn't control. Zoey herself clamped her mouth shut, she could feel her gut twist as her curiosity clawed at her. She was dying to ask him about his species history, and how he resembled Elves. It was an unhealthy interest she concluded.

"There he is!" Bridget cried aloud, and the girls stopped chasing Tarb. The multitude of young women dressed in an ensemble of colours turned towards him allowing the minute alien to slip back to Sardon. Feeling more than slightly threatened Dren flew eagerly into the air a few metres to look at them all shrewdly, "What is it you want with me?" He asked them coldly.

"This!" Corina shouted and launched a heart arrow at him which he easily caught by the shaft crushing into a shower of blue sparks.

"Pathetic. Now tell me really!" He snarled, even as he spoke Rennee lashed her purple sash of a weapon around his ankle. She gave it a powerful yank and he lurched his back into the air in a bid to stop himself being pulled close. The exertion between them seemed almost equal, the glittering violet eyes of the woman met his ambers ones that were now black slits in fury. "I refuse to play this game!" He snapped after a tense moment of which neither had given way. With a furious yank of his leg he back flipped into the air, breaking the sash with a resounding snap.

Renee gave a yelp as her weapon back lashed at her wrist leaving a strong red mark, immediately the Mew Mews crooned around her checking her closely. "Just what do you think you're all doing!" He snarled, his frustration caused by the lack of answers. Normally they never shut up. Again he got nothing but attacks as Bridget wound a giant wave of water around him, creating in effect a twister, even with his acute vision he could see nothing but a swirling mass of turquoise liquid. Any energy he fired out was absorbed into his temporary prison. His tapered ears listened hard past the deafening swirling mass but he couldn't identify noise or people. "TARB! SARDON! Help me!" He roared aloud, already his palms faced each other and was drawing at even more magic when a shot of pain burst onto his right arm.

With a sharp yelp he watched as Renee's purple sash wound its self tightly against him again and he clawed at it relentlessly with his other hand. Another second later and Kikki's tambourine attack had smashed into his left arm, leaving him unable to move it comfortably. "Face me you weaklings!" He snarled to the blue void, and fired pin pricks of energy into the water testing its resolve again. Suddenly a blast of energy shot into the small of his back, unmistakeably Cyniclon, a second later a pull on his arm had sent him hurtling into the water.

Sardon watched with amusement as Dren fell to the ground with a wet splash, the Cyniclon barely had time to draw breath before the Mew Mews pounced on all his limbs, forcing him to surrender movement. They knew a slenderly built Cyniclon like Dren relied heavily on his inner power as opposed to his strength. "It's almost amusing." He commented with a smile to Tarb who sat on the tree, swinging his legs.

"He's so pathetic, one little shot from me and they catch him off guard. And now he's...trapped." The smaller Cyniclon replied with a toothy grin. They watched with interest as Dren was injected with something that made his body limp. A few more moments and their companion was tied, gagged and bundle roughly into the back of the van.

"Well...it seems as if he will have to fend for himself." Sardon said quietly, as the van drove away quickly. "I have no inclination of rescuing him."

"That I agree with." Tarb replied lightly with a broad grin.

Dren's head pounded like never before as he lay on a cold surface. His very veins throbbed labouredly with blood and only served to give him a heated light headed feel. He gradually found his arms and legs and was surprised to feel them unbound but sore. Cracking open his eyes his vision made the world spin so he clamped them shut. He sat up slowly and crossed his legs lethargically. With a few deep breaths he used the magic he relied on and attempted to flush out whatever toxins the dastardly humans had pumped into him. With a lurching retched he coughed out a bloody acrid smelling mess of body fluids which was most of the sedative, wiping his mouth dry with his arm he cast his gaze into the darkness around him.

What encased him was a metal cage. He placed a hand on the bar intending to bend it open with magic, but shouted with pain as a searing sensation burned him. Recoiling with a hiss he felt that his hand was red hot and sore, "Let me out." He called out to the gloom. With his vision he could make out grey shadows and shapes, and suddenly a light switched on.

It blinded him for a moment but his eyes gradually adapted. And he saw the two men watching him curiously. The blonde one was knelt by the cage his blue eyes reflecting intelligence and a cold demeanour. Dren gave a hiss, he didn't like this. Not at all.

"Welcome Dren...good to see you awake." Wesley said calmly and the alien bared his fangs at him like a cornered animal would do.

"Let's...make this easy shall we...We've never done anything like this before and from the look of it neither have you." He said tiredly and sat on a chair beside a large computer. "Your magic is subdued by our tranquilizer so I wouldn't try to use it."

"Fine. We can talk. Don't expect me to spill any secrets though." Dren replied and stood up, he appeared to regain his senses after hissing and snarling. "What is it that you want? Never before in history has a Cyniclon been captured...and it's ridiculous that you had to inject me with such liquids before capturing me. Dirty underhand tactic."

"We did whatever was necessary, believe me, I didn't enjoy waiting four hours for you to wake up. So let's start." Elliot said coldly. He pulled out a camera and sat cross legged on the floor after positioning it directly at Dren. "Let us begin then. Tell us about your race of people and the source...of your magic. We've seen what you can do and would prefer to understand it."

"I don't need to tell you anything." Dren replied simply looking at him stubbornly. "As for the source of my magic...It's nice to see you so fascinated and yet so helpless against it."

"We're not magical creatures, so we have no defences against it, which is why you will tell us how to beat it." Elliot told him frankly with a steely glare.

"I think not."

"Okay, so my next question will be about anatomy. Your ears...do they heighten hearing?" And Dren twitched them as Elliot looked at them with interest.

"Perhaps." Dren replied, he now sat down cross legged with arms folded looking every bit as stubborn as he acted. The next few hours consisted of relentless questions from Elliot with the alien responding in an off handed manner completely avoiding an answer.

"Alright Elliot..." Wesley said tiredly, "Give it a rest, we'll go to sleep now and run some tests tomorrow." The man gave a long stretch as Elliot got to his feet stiffly.

"Yeah..." He agreed, dark bags under his eyes. "Here." And he picked up an apple from the desk and rolled it into Dren's cage careful to avoid the bars.

"Is this supposed to be my dinner?" Sneered the Cyniclon, he picked it up in with a hand noticing how smooth and buffed the surface was.

"It's fruit, enjoy it. And we'll be back in six hours." Elliot replied quietly. They left the room with only a small dim light for Dren, there was no window or breeze for comfort, just the hard metal floor. He detested the floor so managed to levitate himself a few inches off it, and he eyed the apple hungrily. Seeing as some Cyniclons had a choice in how to digest food, he put a hand over the fruit and using the last trickle of magic, absorbed the life energy from it. Beneath his palm the apple shrivelled into a brown, lifeless objects, the crimson complexion it previously had, had been sapped away.

He gave a delightful shudder as the apple's fresh energy rushed into him, merely chewing and swallowing the food couldn't represent how delicious it's energy was which was why this was his preferred way to eat. With a clearer mind he wondered how he could manipulate his prison. _"At any rate that liquid they pumped into me has ruined my build up of magic. Even that apple then contained some more tranquilizer. I won't have enough magic to even bend these bars for a week at most never mind blasting them clear off." _He thought bitterly. At any rate, there was nothing he could do now, so he curled up keeping his knees close to his body and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

He was woken up by Elliot rapping the bars of his cage with a pen. The blonde haired teenager looked at him curiously, "So I noticed how well the overnight cam filmed you."

"You were filming me?" Dren said with a snarl his amber eyes flashing with anger.

"Of course, you're my prize test subject." The teen said with relish, he got off the floor and showed Dren a video of himself draining the apple's life energy on a laptop. "You don't have to tell me anything, I can already tell from this footage that you don't eat as we do."

"Damn right. There's no gruesome, primitive chewing." Dren snapped at him. Already he was sensing the hostility Elliot harboured inside, he was sure left to his own devices that this teenager would regard him as he would an animal and treated like so. And right now, this human was on his own.

"So you regard us as a lower species...yet you have an almost humanoid form." He reached out towards a lab desk and picked up a smaller tranquilizer gun. Dren snarled at the liquid as Elliot pointed it at him, "It won't hurt much. But I need you partially sedated so I can run some tests and studies on you."

Another second with a small "poof" noise and Dren was on the floor, his vision and speech slurred, any specks of magic slipping away from his grasp. He felt warm hands grip him by the scruff of his clothes and drag him bodily onto a table. Dazzled slightly by the white light that hung above his head, he blinked and twisted his head to the side lethargically. "Hold still." Elliot told him sharply and bound his wrist and ankles to the table with restraints.

"Get...off me." Dren gasped feeling sick in the head. He felt a sharp scratch on his arm and squinted slightly to see Elliot attach a sickening drip to his vein.

"That should keep you nice and half sedated." The boy commented and then proceeded to take a vial of blood from the pale arm.

"You disgust me." The Cyniclon spat as a few more vials were extracted from the vein.

"I do what science allows me to do, if you talk then it'll make this scan seem faster." Elliot suggested sliding a metal band over Dren's forehead. The scan shone lasers hot on Dren's skin for over an hour, gleaning information about his skull, brain and eyes. Elliot then progressed to photographing parts of his body, Dren gritted his teeth as the teenager cut his natural clothes off him, leaving him with nothing but his under garment hiding his male parts. He felt at the mercy of the humans, and it sickened him to the core, words would do no good here so he held his tongue.

He reached for the magic inside of him, fully intending to blast Elliot's tanned face into a mush of pain and blood. But it slipped away...the sedation was keeping his concentration from forming properly and he gnashed his fangs in frustration. "That's right...just open your mouth for me." Elliot murmured sliding a thin wooden stick between his jaws. He gently prised it open and took a few photographs of inside. A moment later Dren clamped down on the stick breaking it into fragments.

"Touchy." Elliot said calmly and pulled the fragments away from his mouth. Wesley entered the lab a moment later and scanned Dren with interest from a distance, his mouth scowled a little at how much Dren appeared human and the treatment he had been subjected to made evident by the needles and vials on Elliots desk, alongside scans and graphs.

"I thought we said that you'd wait for me to come back before starting." He said whilst taking a look at the computer that Elliot had running busily.

"I couldn't wait, he was just too interesting...I mean look at his bloods and fluids, they adapt to gases around him...the haemoglobin inside him is a temporary measure and when I exposed him to higher doses of Co2 they twisted so that he expelled oxygen...it's amazing."

"Wow...look at his energy charts..." Wesley muttered, a smile growing on his face, "You've done well, but I'm concerned about his welfare."

"Welfare?" Elliot echoed with a snort of disbelief, "He's nothing but an animal. A creature that we've captured."

"You're creature...has a name." The Cyniclon rasped. His throat felt as if it were cracking but he gave Elliot an angry, feral look , "My name is Dren...and I...demand to be freed." He hissed. The distraction of Wesley was all he needed, with immense effort he forced the sedation needle out with a convulsion of his arm, he tugged at the remnants of his magic and snapped the metal restraints restricting his hands. Immediately Elliot and Welsey was upon him, forcing him back down through sheer force.

Letting out an inhuman scream of anger and distress, he clawed and scratched at the two pair of hands attempting to inject him once again. "LET ME GO!" He roared, his amber eyes dilated so tight they formed black slits.

"DAMN IT ELLIOT, INJECT ALREADY!" Wesley gasped as the flailing arm caught him in the chest, but the vial of sedative was out of reach. Without warning Dren snapped at him, and his fangs met with the man's arm. They sunk in easily, drawing deep, crimson blood. Dren could feel the soft pulse against the entity of his mouth and the sour tang of a human's blood, the raw, musk of it giving him an even harder headache.

"LET HIM GO!" Elliot roared and bashed his elbow repeatedly at the back of the alien's head, but the Cyniclon hung on grimly.

"What's going on in here!" Zoey cried aloud breaking open the lab door, behind her the entire Mew Mew team looked at them curiously as the scene below them froze.

"Nothing!" Wesley gasped weakly and yelped with pain as Dren shifted slightly to see the door. The girls shied away slightly from the surreal scene as the alien was latched on grotesquely to Wesley, blood spilling from the arm and the mouth.

"Dren what are you-" Zoey began her soft eyes widening in fear as the Cyniclon seemed half wild, and without mercy. His eyes met hers, betraying his fear. "Let...Wesley go now." She said softly and murmured coaxingly as you would to a wounded tiger. She kept her distance but out stretched a hand to him much to everyone's horror.


	4. Dinner Time

Author's Note: Discovering more about Dren and his character

"Back off Zoey, you don't know what he's capable of!" Elliot snarled keeping a tight grip on Dren's hand.

"I'm a Mew Mew leader, if I can't handle an injured Cyniclon how do you expect me to save the world?" She retorted angrily and he scowled at her response. The atmosphere of the scene made her stomach twist uneasily, she hadn't previously noticed all the machines, vials of liquids and scanning machinery. It made her sympathize with Dren deeply, it was as if he were a common lab rat...or an alien undergoing vigorous testing.

"Let Wes go, come on...and I swear on my word as a Mew Mew I won't let them carry on." She told the alien approaching him slowly. Her heart beat rapidly as she saw Wesley's wound bleed continuously, the blood seeped onto the table and dripped off it in fat drops onto the floor with a gentle tap, tap, tap noise. "Please Dren...we need Wesley, don't do this." She stared hard at those mysterious eyes of his, and he stared back hostilely.

He then released the arm to spit out blood and hiss at her with anger. Elliot and the Mew Mew team quickly grabbed Wesley out of harm's way. "You sicken me. The lot of you." He rasped aloud and licked his lips clean of remaining blood. It tasted foul and rank but it served to energize him crudely after his ordeal. The humans watched him with a repulsed fascination as he licked his hands clean and tore at the metal restraints freeing his legs, only to drop heavily to the floor.

He eyed them all with venom, "Foul creatures. Not even Cyniclons resort to the means of torture as you did "Elliot"." He spoke darkly with hatred coating each word, his amber eyes a vortex of passion. Elliot looked at him in the eye, the cool blue hue holding its own against the creature.

"That was no torture but I did what I had to. Earth needs defending with information and the only way to do that is through you." He replied evenly and Dren regarded him as nothing but dirt and sniffed huffily.

"Elliot, you have to let him go!" Bridget spoke aloud, breaking the tension in the lab.

"She's right...look at him. He looks ruined." Corina murmured and paled slightly as Dren shot her a venomous look. "What have you been doing to him?" She whispered eyeing up numerous bruises and puncture wounds on the body.

"I say keep him." Rennee voiced aloud, "Look at him, he can't do much else, or get any worse." She added coolly. They had all noticed how weak the Cyniclon seemed, the pale half naked form shuddered from its exertions and there wasn't a sense of superiority anymore as if he had been stripped of pride. Dren knew what was coming and hadn't a scrap of magic left inside him.

"Don't say you didn't have the chance to escape." Elliot said coldly, he had a small tranquilizer gun in his hand now and despite all Dren's snarling and fang baring, the dart's head still sunk into its victim.

"Hold it!" Zoey yelled grabbing the teen's arm as he made to move towards the body that was slowly sinking to the floor.

"What? Go back to the cafe." He told her sharply but she didn't let go,

"You can't do this, it isn't right. Aliens have rights too." She snapped at him, surprising herself with her determination.

"If your love for Cyniclons goes so deep, then you may as well take up his feeding and cleaning duties after your shift in the cafe." He told her sternly, clearly his patience had wore thin.

"No, I don't want to clean the-"

"Then get out. Now all of you get back up topside, I need to deal with Wesley first." His authority was clear and he sent them away, Zoey left with a furious blush that he was allowed to treat the Cyniclon as so.

"It's not fair! Even Dren of anything has feelings and a conscience, he's not just an animal that can test things on and hope he lives!" She screamed to her friends once the lab door had closed, Kikki gave her a hug and muttered condolences.

"It's only been one day Zoey." Rennee told her blandly, "He'll live, he's not a defenceless or voiceless rabbit that needs protection." And she walked away having stoked Zoey's anger even further.

"I'll go with you later and we'll see if he's okay." Bridget muttered holding her leader's shaking fist. The teenager's body quaked at the injustice she had witnessed, little did she know it but her encounters with the Cyniclon had forged a bond between them. A strange, twisted bond that Dren could see only too clear with his heightened senses.

"Why care so much for him? He's the enemy." Corina told her nonchalantly and watched as Zoey stomped off, her anger preventing words from forming an answer.

Dren however was now being bundled bodily into the cage, his partly naked body was cold to Elliot's touch and the teenager marvelled curiously at the alien. His entire body was pale and hairless. The skin was young and smooth yet the muscles beneath it were hard and toned. "Here are some clothes for you to dress in after you wake." Elliot said stiffly and dropped a pair of jeans and a vest on the floor before draping a woollen blanket over the body. He looked across the cramped lab and saw that Wesley had finished bandaging himself.

"Well...eventful as today was, I think we need a talk with Zoey." He suggested after Elliot had locked and switched on the cage's defences.

"I agree, she can't interfere with our tests otherwise we'll be badly disadvantaged against this race of aliens." Elliot said grimly casting the fallen form one last look before exiting the lab.

It was pitch black when Dren finally awoke. He was weak from having little to no nutrition and from his failed attempt to escape. With a groan he righted himself, already his eyes had adjusted showing him that the room was empty of humans. _"That's a relief...I don't think I could have stood another round of constant pricking and scans." _He thought grimly and put his palms on the floor as he sat up.

He felt the clothes around his hands and sniffed at them cautiously. With a snarl of disgust he clenched them tightly and threw them at the bars where they crumpled into a singed heap. "Dren?" Came a hushed whisper, and the hairs on his nape stood up as his senses alerted him to the direction of the voice.

"Dren?" Came the voice again and he peered through the grey mass of darkness to the door, where a scratching noise came from.

"Who's there?" He snapped, crouching low to the floor. Another few scratches and then came a resounding click. The door swung open and Zoey stood there with a thin torch. He could tell it was her from the shadowed outline and the scent as she came closer.

"Hi there..." She began quietly and Dren snarled at her in reply. She kept her distance from the cage but set down a small back pack and her torch. "I brought you some food." She whispered.

"Save it human, I don't need trash like yours." He sneered and turned so that his back faced her. His disinterest seemed to embolden her and she drew closer to the cage.

"What happened to sunshine, and kitty cat?" She replied testily, "My name is Zoey remember." She replied briskly and rolled fruit in between the bars of his cage. And she carefully pushed a block of cooked meat into the cage. Dren heard the soft thump of food as it rolled around him, one apple bumping into his leg, and he looked at it hungrily. The aching dull of his body demanded sustenance. But his stubbornness wouldn't allow him to eat it while she was here.

She waited a minute to see if he could or would eat it but he didn't move an inch so she sighed and made a mental note about how slim Dren was, the bones of his spine were just about visible in the torch's light. "Well, I'm off now before Elliot catches me. A little thanks would be nice." She added with a sniffle.

"You came of your own accord Zoey, there's no need for me to show thanks." He snapped to her with a growl. She promptly left with a small goodbye and closed the door. Soon as she was gone, Dren set about absorbing the life energy of the fruits, he instantly felt rejuvenated. As for the meat, he sniffed it cautiously. There was never or rarely an occasion to eat meat within his own species and he did not relish the salt or protein it would saturate him with if he chewed it, for it could not provide the taste of life energy in the form of a dead lump so he cast it aside and pushed the lifeless fruit out of the cage careful not to burn himself. _"She is a strange human, whatever is she thinking? Bringing me food...Elliot will be furious but she still did it. I mustn't be used to this charity, it's almost as degrading as this cage. I'll have to find some of my sweet charm to get under the skin of blondie tomorrow..." _He mulled over his thoughts for a while before dropping back into sleep.

Elliot and Wesley were not too surprised by the pile of rotten fruit beside the cage, as they had an inkling Zoey would have returned. What did surprise the pair was that Dren was dressed in the clothes provided and was stood up in the cage waiting for them. "So...what do you think?" He asked them with a smirk, "I think they fit me rather well." And he gave a small twirl before his eyes darted to Wesley's arm where fresh bandages were wrapped around his bite wound.

"I trust you had a pleasant night." Elliot commented with a frown, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"That I did, Zoey brought me some very refreshing appetisers. But if you don't mind...I want more..." He told him with a fanged smile, "Otherwise I shall have to seek sustenance of another kind." And he eyes Wesley deliberately. Oh how he loved how the humans shuddered in uneasiness. The piercing amber eyes then darted to Elliot who had to look away from the queasy feeling it gave him, once an alien, always an alien.

"Fine. I'll bring more fruit if you want." And he turned to the door.

"Oh and if you can find me live prey that'd be even better." Dren said in a sweet tone that sent Elliot shivering,

"What you're going to do to any "live prey" I don't want to know." The teen snapped exiting the lab hurriedly.

"My, my , my he doesn't have much of a stomach for delicacies does he?" Dren stated with a grin as he turned his attention to Wesley.

"I don't think any human has." Came the simple reply. The man turned towards him holding a metal bangle, "Hold out your wrist." And the Cyniclon obeyed with a deep scowl. Wesley clamped it onto him with an apologetic look, "Don't blame me, I didn't make this." And Dren eyed him oddly.

"ARGH!" The Cyniclon then cried out as needle like pricks sank into his skin, he grabbed his arm tightly, the nails digging deeply into his veins. "What is this!" He snarled backing away as Wesley approached him again. Blood seeped down to his hand in a thin trickle that soon stopped as Dren licked it up. The pain subsided but he was aware of needles imbedded into him, they itched inside the bangle put he was unable to scratch at them.

"It'll stop you using your powers, with just enough sedative to keep you partially docile." The man told him with a weak smile, "I stayed up for a few hours designing it to your DNA after Elliot made it of course..." He received a sharp hiss in reply. Dren couldn't risk pulling it off for it had gone in deep and he didn't want to rupture anything he couldn't fix with magic, which he didn't have at this time.

"You're kind is really despicable." Dren told him after composing himself, he flexed his hand a little and felt the pain subside a little.

"We're a nice race of people, you just happen to need restraining." Wesley told him pointedly and turned away to comb his long hair into a pony tail tied with a bow. Dren watched him with fascination, he couldn't help it. Human routines were oh so very fascinating, all the pointless motions at preening oneself, and the impractical long hair...it was all very different. He saw Wesley turn round and he hastily licked the back of his hand to wash his face with it, very much like an animal would do without access to bathing water.

"Perhaps you'd like a bowl of water and a cloth?" The man suggested kindly and knelt by him.

"No." Dren retorted and proceeded to groom, teasing out any knots in his dark green hair with his fingers.

"Very well." Wesley replied with amusement at the Cyniclon and exited the room, just as Elliot came back in accompanied by Zoey who had her arms full of fruit.

"You can drop the food in through the bars Zoey, but don't touch them. They'll burn you." Elliot said indicating towards Dren. He sat back down on the chair and proceeding to sift through data concerning the alien, leaving her free to talk to Dren.

"So kitty cat you came back with more food." He said shifting closer to the bars. She narrowed her eyes at him,

"You've changed your attitude from last night." And sat on the floor with the fruit in her lap to roll oranges and apples towards him.

"You have no idea what starvation does to a guy. That measly amount of blood from Wesley was barely a mouthful." And he delighted in seeing her express disgust towards him.

"That's...gross." She finally uttered and concentrated on dispensing the fruit to him. He caught each one in his palm but hoarded it all into a corner.

"Oh come now, I was starving, stripped of power too. And no one came to rescue poor little Dren." He said with a toothy grin, there was the familiar edge to his voice and the eyes once again pierced through Zoey, making her wonder what he could see inside her heart.

"I'm sure you could have gotten out eventually." She replied not wanting to get caught in one of his teasing jokes that made her blush inside. He made a "Pah" noise and scowled deeply,

"Believe me, if it wasn't for these toxins in my body my magic would have returned to me already and you would all be paying dearly for insulting a son of Cyniclons." He snarled at her angrily. The hate in his eyes went deep and she was slightly taken aback at the vicious reply.

"Ah ha...I knew our sedative had that effect. Rendering completely devoid of magic...I'll have to make a note of that." Elliot said with a smug look that caused Dren much anger.

"You'll pay for this human!" He snarled and launched himself at the bars in a desperate action. Zoey leapt away from the cage, fearful of the self harm Dren was putting himself through, fearful because it was a sickening scene.

The Cyniclon was launching himself at full throttle at the bars that glowed red at the contact. His clothes were now charred and singed giving off a bad smell. But it was the thud of the body from the force that unsettled Zoey. Dark bruise patches formed against his pale skin, and streaks of light burns scorched him and he roared with the inhuman element of his voice after a few minutes of bashing around. Finally admitting defeat.

With an angry hiss he turned away from Elliot who had watched him with great amusement. Thrusting his palm open he quickly absorbed the life force of the fruit in his cage. Relishing the fresh and exotic tastes he now felt he took a deep breath and turned back to face Zoey.

"Do I make you feel ill my sweet?" He asked him with a dark sense of pleasure as the bruises began to fade and heal and the pungent aroma of rotten fruit filled the air. She quailed as if trying to hold down her breakfast and bolted from the room without a word. Elliot wrinkled his face with distaste at the rotting and matted vegetation that lay around him, it seemed a clear, if surreal image, that this is what Cyniclons would do to planet Earth if they won the war.

"Can you not consume food normally as we do?" He asked him sharply tossing the ruined fruit into a bin as Dren pushed it out to him.

"What you call "normal", I call strange." Dren replied. And Elliot regarded him with curiosity for a while, the alien had spoken wise words and shown ignorance on his behalf.

"Well if you told us more about you perhaps I would understand more." And Dren made a scoffing noise in reply.

"Even if I told you, your tiny brains wouldn't be able to comprehend it and it'll just confuse you even more." He sneered, mocking Elliot's intelligence. The blonde haired teen binned the rotten fruit and dusted his hands calmly.

"Try me. I'm one the best minds of the 21st century, I'll even set you free if I don't understand." He said calmly and took a seat facing Dren.

It was the Cyniclons turn to feel unnerved, he hadn't counted on Elliot being an intelligent human with such gall to challenge him. Licking his fangs he gently racked his brains for something to befuddle Elliot with though he knew he wouldn't be set free. "How about information about magic?" The teen asked, "I'm really quite interested in that."

"And spill the source of my power to the likes of you?" Dren hissed back, "No, I don't think so...let me think of something that'll really make your hair stand on end." The human waited patiently and Dren racked his brain, he'd never been a strong thinker but a magic weaver yes...

"Here's a little tid bit about my supreme race." Dren told him with a leer, "During a full moon and when a nearest planet is a dusky red in the sky, we walk to a cliff held on the highest rock face possible. And there we bring a chosen Cyniclon. It has to be a girl younger than thirty, with magic strong in her blood...We sacrifice her to the universe with a knife formed from slate and infused with the blood from trees. And it can't just be a normal stab. You need to get the blade deepy into her organs and twist it, she has to smile to the heavens before dying, otherwise it won't work. As a community we drink her blood. Then we burn her body after gutting it and removing the organs. Every year all the magic weavers do this." He had spoken in a hushed voice and had sent goose bumps all over Elliot.

But the human remained an impassive face and tapped absent mindedly at the chair's arm as he considered the information. "So you do something similar to cannibals or the Aztecs..." He finally murmured, his brow creasing in thought.

"No...We don't eat the flesh or absorb her life energy, nothing so vile." Dren replied with a cold laugh at the idea.

"Just the blood and stabbing...but why? And why a child?" Elliot asked him. But Dren only gave him a wicked smile.

"By asking questions you're telling me that you don't understand." He said with some satisfaction and the blonde haired teen gave a sigh.

"Is it because she is pure? And that your race of creatures is based on magic before fractioning off into specialities, and it is a ritual you follow like a religion?" Elliot asked him, reeling off possibilities.

"Not so close. But it's a sickening ritual." Dren told him with venom. "I don't enjoy it as much as I enjoy the idea of it." He then retreated to a corner of the cage that was shadowed so he could hide his features. And Elliot decided that this was all the information he was going to get from him today.

Dren lurked in the corner, from Elliot's body language he saw clear as day that the human was interested and he expected nothing less. But as for being set free...It was clear the only way out was to break out with an opportunity. He wasn't approached by anyone else for the remainder of the day so busied himself with magic. He spent a good few hours straining his mentality to activate the magic that flowed through his body, but it was too strenuous. The trickle that he had only allowed him to absorb energy otherwise he'd have to gain energy the primitive fashion through eating. A way that seemed very bland and provided low nutrition compared to life energy.

"So...Dren?" And he snapped his eyes open to find the green haired girl looking closely at him through her glasses. It was the meek and fearful one...she'd be an easy mind to twist he thought with an inward smirk.

"Yes what is it?" He asked irritably, feeling more and more like a pet on display with each visitor, Bridget shrank away from the sharp reply. Behind her Wesley stood on watch in case he went through another unexpected twist of anger, licking his fangs to emphasize the dryness of his mouth Dren proceeded to speak in a calmer tone. "Bridget...yes. The green haired meek, watery one."

"Yes...you're not wrong about that." She replied in small voice, she looked at him curiously drinking in his features and attitude before he barked,

"What do you want?"

"Well, I was actually hoping you'd come out and join us for dinner." She said softly and Dren swallowed once.

"Dinner?" He echoed and repeated the word again as if not quite understanding.

"Yeah, dinner...we humans eat it in the evening." Bridget said, "Elliot thinks it's a bad idea but, the Mews Mews have decided that...it'd be cruel of us to leave something with intelligence and a voice down here while we ate."

Dren felt the curved tip of his ear as he thought about his options. _"This may be the only way for me to escape...the thought of dining with humans is repulsive...it's far too convenient." _And he gave a small shudder before looking back at her. "I accept." He finally said with a small frown.

"You'll have to stick out your hand for me, so I can tie this to you." Wesley said approaching him with some ribbon strap made from Kevlar. Dren issued a continuous growl that was so low it sounded something similar to a roll of thunder, but still he put his wrist out to Wesley unwillingly, who knotted the fabric around him. "Now be careful with this, it's a really strong material and if you pull to hard, it'll only cut in and hurt." He told him kindly with a smile.

Bridget then opened the cage door and murmured for Dren to come out. He did so cautiously, feeling something like a prisoner, and after Wesley tied the other end to his own wrist they led him towards the door where Elliot stood with a grim look. He said nothing but moved aside so that they could pass, the alien shot him an angry amber look with his eyes and Elliot returned it with a cool look from his eyes. "Hi there Dren." Came a chorus of subdued and wary voices from the centre of the cafe.

"What is this?" He snapped to Bridget who jumped slightly and sweat dropped as she explained that they were all here to participate in the meal, though all the girls had transformed into their Mew Mew forms. "Clearly you all seem to feel threatened." He commented dryly taking an empty seat at the front of the table. Wesley sat down close to him though the table was at a right angle then,

"We thought that you'd be interested to see how humans function at social events." He said with a smile and gave Dren a steaming bowl of rice in which the alien sniffed at.

"You should know that he doesn't eat like us." Elliot said scathingly and sat down besides Bridget leaving a gap between the Cyniclon and him.

"Oh and I suppose the greatest mind of the 21st century knows everything about my eating habits." Dren replied mockingly and picked up a pair of chopsticks in which he crammed down the hot food into his mouth. Everyone watched him with a strange sort of fascination, the speed at which he ate was tremendous and once he finished, within a matter of seconds, he had a smug grin on his face directed at Elliot who looked away deliberately. "So Mew Mews...don't you all want to eat?" He said lightly looking at the five faces peering pointedly at him.

And they all turned away muttering amongst themselves. "Oh don't mind them." Wesley said with a laugh at Dren who brushed away a grain of rice stuck to his cheek. "They're just curious."

"As I am of them." Dren replied almost politely. This long haired human didn't give off a sense of hostility and his body language wasn't that of a fighter, more of a nurturer. Therefore in his mind, this weak sap deserved a degree of courtesy seeing as he had bitten him already.

"How very courteous of you to say so." Wesley remarked with a gleeful expression.

"What I don't understand is you're dual digestion system." Elliot voiced aloud, he hadn't touched his food but merely stared at Dren.

"What's so hard to understand?" The Cyniclon replied, wolfing down another bowl of rice Wesley had filled for him.

"The fact you eat by absorbing-"

"You absorb stuff!" Kikki demand jumping onto the table with an excited grin on her face, even Dren's eyes widened in alarm. "SHOW ME! SHOW ME!"

"Kikki! Behave yourself!" Bridget squeaked in alarm and tried to pull the girl off the table. Dren blinked once and gave a little cough and stood up.

"Ahem." The Cyniclon pulled the fruit bowl towards him. He thrust his palm above it and proceeded to leech it dry of life energy, relishing its pure spirits rushing into his veins and a grin spread across his face. The girls watched fascinated as Elliot scoffed at the act.

"...All the fruits are dead." Zoey murmured in awe and looked back up at Dren who gave her a wink and sent chills down her spine. She hurriedly looked away as the Cyniclon sat back down, apparently having consumed his fill.

"That was amazing!" Kikki yelped with glee, "Ooo but if you can take the life away from fruit does that mean you can do the same to a human?" And she ended in a hushed voice. And immediately the atmosphere became frosty as they waited with baited breath for an answer.

Dren looked around him aware of the hostility emanating from the girls and Elliot, where as Wesley merely observed. "I suppose I could...I can rip out a soul..." And he stood up slowly and began leaning forward to Kikki who was stood squarely on the table. "I can tear it out from their hearts and twist it into a crystal capsule. To leech their life would be far too easy..." And he was precariously close to her face, she fell backwards onto the table with a soft thump narrowly missing a dish of beef. And he reached a clawed hand above her face. "All I have to do is reach for the magic inside of me."

"Don't do it Dren." Warned Wesley and the Cyniclon felt the Kevlar strap tighten around his wrist as he leant most of his body across the table.

"You're life would be so easy to drain...can't you feel it within you Kikki? It sparkles so bright..." Dren whispered baring his fangs to her, there was a collectively held breath around the room. She shook quietly against his words and he reached down to pinch her cheek. "It's a shame you're a Mew Mew otherwise it would already be forfeit." And he sat back down with a smug grin as everyone gave a sigh of relief. "Not to mention the idea doesn't appeal to me. You humans are not very tasty."

"Phew...For a moment there I thought you were going to try to." Zoey said with a nervous laugh, as she helped Kikki back into her seat.

"Why bother with humans when you provide me with juicy fruits to devour. Such good servants." Dren replied simply and half closed his eyes, apparently content.

"I think you should go back to your cage now." Elliot said after a while, "I don't like the idea of you being out here so long."

"Well seeing as you feel so threatened by me Elliot, I'm afraid I have no means to say no." Dren said in a teasing tone of voice and got up from his chair. "Oh just a minute." And he felt for the strap around his wrist. "This is your strongest material? Watch closely genius." And with a sharp click of his teeth he snapped the Kevlar leaving his hands free.

"Kevlar in our world can stop bullets." Elliot said calmly as Dren sneered at him whilst walking towards him.

"Then you better hope you humans come up with something stronger because I'm not a strong Cyniclon." And the alien disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to enter the basement where the cage and lab was set. His statement sent scowls and worry across the entire Mew Mew crew, each of them fussing over how strong the Cyniclons could get.

"I'll go and lock him up." Elliot stated following Dren. He found the Cyniclon at the lab door waiting patiently. "So what's with the terror spreading?" He asked him coolly.

"Nothing in particular. Just thought that I should remind you who is a higher species." The alien gave a high laugh and gripped the fabric of his vest. He raised it to his nose and inhaled deeply. Elliot cast an eye over the scorched marks of charred fabric and met with the alien's eyes, "Maybe a change of clothes would be nice." Dren commented with a leer at him knowing that he had touched a nerve.

"I'll see about it." Elliot commented dryly, opening the door to the lab where Dren entered it leaving a malicious grin on his face before disappearing down. The alien obediently went into the cage and the teenager put a hand on the lock button, pausing for a moment.

"What's with the hesitation?" Dren drawled and gave a stretch showing off his lean body much to Elliot's annoyance.

"I was hoping to run some more tests tomorrow." He said aloud and pressed the lock button down. "I'm hoping for your co-operation seeing as these tests require you to be fully conscious and ... no sedation." And Dren narrowed his eyes. "So I don't want my prize subject running off with Zoey into the sunset."

"So that was the purpose for this dinner tonight...not because the Mew Mews wanted to accept me into their little cosy family of freaks, but because you wanted to see how well I would respond under supervision of your entire team." The alien gave a hollow laugh, "Sure I'll humour you. It'll be a laugh and I never miss an opportunity to show myself off..." A little taken aback that his intentions had been discovered the teen shifted awkwardly.

"Then I look forward to it." He replied quietly and exited the lab, switching off the lights as he went.

Note : I hope this wasn't too boring :S I was hoping for a build up to the next chapter when someting major happens :P


	5. The unmistakeable musk of males

Author's Note: I hope you like it! :D

It felt like Dren had slept no more than five minutes when the blaring lights in the lab woke him up. He cursed and gingerly stirred, not wanting to move much.

"Morning." Zoey said to him warily. Behind her was the entire team of Mew Mews staring obsessively at him, and he gave his face a quick wash to hide it after sitting upright stiffly. Their gaze annoyed him very much, why were they always so curious about things they didn't understand? Meddlesome beings.

"You were sleeping so deep that you didn't hear us all come in." Wesley said cheerily as he positioned a complicated machine beside the metal table.

"Be that as it may...are you all going to watch me as I get changed?" He asked the teenage girls with a wink and a devilish smile. Instantly their faces burst into blooms of cherry red, they were such easy creatures to manipulate he thought with an inward smile. "I'm assuming that you have brought me some fresh attire."

"We're not going to watch you change." Corina replied stiffly struggling to hide the blush that had risen on her cheeks. She promptly turned her back as did the others without complaint.

"Why do your females have such weak pride?" Dren asked Elliot who gave a shrug, "On my planet, the females were proud, dangerous beings that were something to be feared at if you crossed them." The Alien proceeded to pull off the charred vest, and discarded the jeans in messy corner. "So where are my new clothes?" He asked with an amused smile as he stood there stark naked in a pair of dark boxers that clung from his hips to mid thigh.

"You won't need them, for this test the less you wear is better."

"Well...in that case...I wouldn't want to hinder your experiment." Dren replied silkily with a high laugh as he pulled playfully at the band around his boxers. Zoey felt the hairs on her neck stand on end as she listened intently, beside her Bridget tensed visibly. She herself felt as if Dren was boring his gaze into her whilst mostly naked, and it sent a surreal chill up her spine unlike anything before.

"That won't be necessary, your...boxers didn't interfere with our machinery last time so it'll be fine. Of course if you wanted us to perform an examination for data I wouldn't say no." Elliot said blandly, so serious that it gave Dren reason to grin.

"Oh I don't think so Earth boy, I'm not into cross species, homosexual love or fondling." The Mew Mew team could stand it no longer...as one they all whipped around with flushed cheeks and an angry scowl.

"HOW LONG DO YOU EXPECT US TO LISTEN TO THIS?"

"IT'S DISGUSTING!"

"URGH – THE RUDENESS!"

"AAH – HE'S NAKED!"

"GET A GRIP GIRLS." Renee shouted at them and left the lab in a huff, closely followed by the rest of the team.

"Uh uh Zoey, you've gotta stay down here." Dren called out with a giggle and the girl lurched forwards in her tracks as if he'd just pulled on a leash attached to her, forbidding her to run. She turned around slowly, almost rigidly, and spoke in a croaky voice.

"You want me to...what?"

"Stay." Dren smiled at her, "Stay and watch my beautiful body, tormented as so by Elliot." Their gaze snapped together and she couldn't bear to look away, it was almost hypnotizing. Eventually he turned towards the table where he skipped onto it, even as he turned Zoey resigned to her fate and sat down on the stairs careful to avoid looking at Dren too much. Seeing a guy topless and so close was a new scenario for her. Sometimes he'd catch her looking and she would quickly hide her expression of embarrassment, he found it amusing that humans could be so shy.

"So blondie...I'm all ready." The alien said and laid down on his back where Wesley attached a hydrating drip into his vein, already the skin around the area was a dark purple from previous treatment.

"Alright, in this test we're flushing elements into your blood stream to see if it aggravates your magic." Elliot told him whilst speaking into a microphone headset, it was most likely to keep a record of this session Dren deduced. "If it's not successful, then we'll extract it. It won't be pleasant that's for sure."

"I always knew humans we're barbaric, but I'll play along." Dren told him dryly.

"Initializing pump." Wesley said to Elliot who had fixed a large mouth piece over Dren's nose and mouth, he inserted a tube into his mouth and the alien gave him an angry stare at the rude intrusive object.

Zoey felt slightly nauseous as they pumped a cloud of rich blue powder into the mouthpiece, his body wracked with discomfort as the powder travelled into his lungs and was reluctantly absorbed. "The coppers, gone in." Elliot told Wesley, who then extracted the powder out. "What's the readings?"

"He's stable, I'll start the exo-scan now." Wesley told him. And a sheet of red light covered Dren's chest, illuminating in the air an image of his lungs. They were filled with a dark material hanging half way between the blood capillaries and alveoli.

"Doesn't look like it's successful. Extraction." And he pressed a button on the mouth piece which squirted a pale pearl liquid into the mouth tube and down his throat. The poor Alien coughed, retched and choked as the liquid supposedly eradicated the copper inside of him. The routine was repeated, testing random elements within him, some had adverse reactions to his body so much so that he suffered symptoms similar to an allergy reaction, whereas other elements merely lingered uncomfortably in him. Then came Fluorine.

"Initializing pump." Wesley said, ticking off another element from his list but this time something different occurred in Dren. His eyes flew wide open his amber eyes dilating and constricting in an uneven tempo, his body wracked uncontrollably in a fit and foam began to gather at the mouth piece.

"Elliot!" Zoey cried aloud as the teen ripped the mouthpiece away from Dren. She ran across to the bed but dared not touch the body whilst Elliot and Wesley worked methodically to restrain the frail body.

"We have to stop him fitting – Elliot grab his legs!" Wesley shouted pinning Dren's head to the side after strapping his arms down.

"His charts are off the scale!" Elliot yelled above the frenzied beeping of machines, everything attached to Dren had sky rocketed and was fluctuating erratically. She glanced at his face but it appeared that he wasn't even conscious, those deep amber eyes were gazing listlessly at her, but after a moment his limbs froze and came to a rest, and she clapped her hands to her mouth. For on his torso, a glow of white light came from each of his pores on his skin. Elliot and Wesley backed away from the bed, pulling Zoey with them fearfully.

"What's going on?" She asked them to no avail. Even as they retreated to a far corner of the lab, Elliot pulled a switch down. A clear box enveloped the bed, a safeguard he explained, and the lab doors bolted shut tightly. Outside the Mew Mew team hammered on the titanium door with panicked cries.

"We have to help him!" She cried, tears pricking at her eyes. She watched as the white glow rose and formed a wispy ball of...white cloudy gas. It lingered gently in the air for a moment before slamming back into his body with such force that forced cracks to show on the glass. Even from a distance Zoey felt something push them back a few steps, and it felt as if the sheer force had winded her.

"Zoey, you'll have to destroy him!" Elliot told her sternly and she glanced at him in horror.

"Destroy him? What? I can't do that!" She replied with a cry.

"Look at him!" And she did look, his pale body was illuminated by white streaks traversing down his veins, giving him a ethereal, even more alien look. "What's happening to him?" And she squinted as the light glowed to a painful intensity, Dren's eyes were snapped open and stared at them mercilessly.

"DESTROY HIM!" Elliot urged her grabbing her wrist tightly and she winced with pain.

"No! No! I won't do it!" Zoey yelled at him, "What happened to him?" She added after Elliot released her with a look of sheer disappointment.

"My only guess...is he's having a reaction to the Fluorine!" Wesley gasped aloud, his gaze transfixed on the alien.

"There's nothing we can do for him!" Elliot yelled aloud over the sound of Dren screaming. He was screaming in pure agony and terror. It was an unreal noise that one would only ever make under extreme circumstances. His chest heaved and shook whilst his fingernails scraped the edges of the metal bed, his nails drawing off peels of steel. His frail body was almost entirely engulfed in light.

"ZOEY...ZOEY! HELP! HELP ME!" He screamed, then his mouth gaped open, in a silent roar of pain. She watched him beg at her but stood in the arms of Elliot and Wesley stunned and frightened. The light was now coursing through his veins, casting long shadows around his body where the veins ended. It came to a point where Zoey had to turn away, it was a gruelling torture scene and she gained no comfort from the guilty party sheltering her. It was going to be an immense blast that was sure and it was too late to destroy him...or for them to escape. Seeing as Elliot had barred the doors automatically like an idiot.

There was a ringing in his ears when Dren finally fluttered open his eyes. His body quivered with the effort and felt so much more heavier...perhaps it was his exhaustion...whatever it was he was struggling to sit up. He rolled to his side gingerly and pushed himself upright with great effort, it took him a long while to sit up. "Jeth a...Jeth a...JETH A!" He cried aloud in his native tongue. He blinked a few times but could see nothing but a rubble of dirt, glass and machinery in the dim environment he was sat in. Even the table he sat on was dented and charred beyond repair. "Rairthune owt sherl?" He called aloud and scanned the room slowly. There wasn't any form of life to be seen.

He sniffed around and could smell charred flesh. It a fleshy scent he wasn't accustomed to and he followed the pungent aroma to a heap pile of dust that he had previously discarded as important. He half crawled and walked towards it, his body feeling odd and disproportioned. He was off balanced and his body lopped around uselessly at times. He clawed away at the dust and the thin layer of rubble where he came across some fallen fleshy forms. Tentatively he reached for them and tugged out the smallest of the forms.

Zoey's slim body fell into his lap as he fell backwards from the exertion. She breathed shallowly and her eyes were fluttering in and out of consciousness. He studied her without much interest before returning to the rubble pile again to pull out two heavier and larger figures. "Oweke si." He muttered nudging one of the two males with long hair. He stirred a little as did the blonde coloured one, he crawled away from them apprehensively, unsure of their reaction.

"Uneowki tharm." He spoke aloud, his tone of voice surprising him. It was a deeper voice than he previously imagined himself to have and was layered with a subtle exotic accent that made him seem even more unlike these creatures.

"Elliot...Zoey..." Wesley gasped aloud, he coughed a few times and saw that Elliot was doing the same whereas Zoey had only began to stir. He shook her shoulder a few times but she remained unconscious.

"Where is he...where is Dren?" Elliot asked blearily and reached out for Wesley's hand as they pulled each other upright. The lab was rather dark but an unmistakeable pale form was crouched in a corner, his recognizable amber eyes glinting cautiously.

"Uneowki tharm." Dren repeated and he shifted towards them slowly as the male creatures began to pick up the female. What was more important was that the two males appeared to regard him as a threat.

"What's he saying?" Elliot hissed to Wesley, their pain and weariness forgotten against the alien.

"I sure don't know...but he doesn't sound like the Dren we saw. Perhaps the fluorine changed him..." Wesley muttered watching as the Cyniclon approached.

"Une owekee si yere, cin u ital une rerre une yeh?" He studied them carefully and switched languages to hopefully accommodate these primitive beings. "What...he saying." He repeated after Wesley almost in a doleful voice.

"He's speaking English again." Elliot marvelled, "How odd." He limped forwards but could make no more of the Cyniclon who shrank into the shadows other than the cautious amber eyes. "Dren, are you okay?" He called aloud.

"Dren...Dren...Fahh su une Cyniclon heah."

"Yes. Yes, Dren is a Cyniclon." He spoke slowly and pronunciated his words clearly as it was apparent the alien had lost the knowledge of everything Earth related.

"Dren is a Cyniclon?" The alien replied, "Dren su mek. Une yeh Dren." Inside his mind, he was struggling to piece together the new language but already his intellect was copying and verifying words the two males spoke to each other. He was a creature designed by the universe to adapt.

"Come on... Wesley, take Zoey and I'll get the bolts on the door." Elliot grunted, limping determinedly to the door. Dren shadowed them closely, watching the proceedings with much interest but never venturing too close. The blonde human pulled the bars horizontally freeing the badly burned door, he pushed it open allowing a broad beam of light to flood into the mess of the lab.

"Door." Dren said pointing at the open lab entrance.

"Yes Dren, a door." Wesley replied tiredly and hoisted Zoey up the stairs with some effort. Dren stepped into the light and the two humans gasped at him.

Elliot and Wesley simultaneously noticed how different Dren was now. Their eyes widened as they observed his body. Long gone was the scrawny, lanky body and his hair was unbound giving him a wild, rugged look. Their eyes roved over his fully naked body, he was hairless all over even round the groin, and muscles rippled visibly under his skin, just enough so that it could define him and the shadows cast on his body emphasized them deeply. He was masculine looking and they knew it, even from a distance he was radiating an aura of arrogance just from appearance, how his face was chiselled to beauty and how his eyelashes were lusciously long. Dren had entered the Adult stage of his life. Pale, white markings were on his skin, it slithered across from his neck to his pectorals, down his torso, arms and ended at his hip line. They were jagged, tribal like thicker in some areas but thinner in others and almost aggressive. As they stared, the pale markings gradually faded from view as the alien began to relax.

"We...we..." Elliot stammered looking at the impressive figure that stood easily at a height of over six and feet.

"We...need to find him some clothes." Wesley muttered with a smirk. They turned around and saw that the entire Mew Mew Team was blocking the doorway, their eyes as large as saucepans as they drunk in the sight of Dren hungrily.

"Okay, girls show's over." Elliot said hurriedly pulling a fluffy heart apron off Bridget ,who gasped at his speed of untying it from behind her. He tied it behind Dren who widened his amber eyes slightly at the wild lunge. But a moment later and his front nether regions were covered up.

"Well...it'll have to do for now." Wesley commented with a smirk at Elliot who scowled in reply.

"He looks like a dressed up treat for a hen party but it'll have to do. Run up and get me some clothes Kikki." Elliot ordered, "And the rest of you, help Wesley get Zoey up and awake. And stop staring at him."

"He's a real hot piece of eye candy." Renee commented with a sparkle in her eyes as she led the way back into the cafe, Kikki bounding past her and up the stairs.

"Tell me about it." Corina replied in a mystified voice as she followed.

"Oh my..." Bridget said quietly as Elliot pushed her frozen form into the cafe where Dren was out of sight.

"Oh my." Dren repeated to Elliot who turned around and ran a hand through his hand.

"Yes, right Dren, stay here a minute while Kikki comes back with some clothes." He muttered tiredly.

"Yes." And the voice was rich to his ears, subconsciously recognising the alien was far more attractive than himself.

"Delivery!" Kikki yelled, she clamped her eyes shut as she left the clothes at the top of the stairs.

"Well I hope these fit...you're a lot taller than me." He muttered passing the Cyniclon the clothes and boxers.

Dren half walked, half pushed by Elliot, into the cafe, its smells and lights dazzled him slightly. All eyes were on him as he entered, and he looked at them with his dilated amber ones. It was so strange and new/

"You're sure it's Dren?" Bridget asked tentatively and blushed as he turned to look at her. "What happened?"

"Dren." The Cyniclon said randomly, his intelligence glinting behind his eyes as he surveyed all the faces.

"Yes, we're sure." Wesley replied as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. "Something went wrong..."

"Definately." Elliot agreed and groaned as he noticed a dark bruise stretching from his arm to his shoulder. "And now it's like he has no recollection of anything or anyone."

"Tell me about it." Renee said a velvety voice. The men stared at her with surprise and found that a blush had crept onto her cheeks, as it was on the other girls cheeks.

"Told you that vest was too tight on him." Wesley chuckled watching the infatuating situation with amusement.

"Not my fault he's bigger than me." Elliot replied with a small scowl. And true enough Dren's chest muscles bulged at the sides of the vest, and his toned stomach showed where the vest ended before meeting a pair of combat trousers. By now the pale white markings on his skin were barely visible without squinting.

"Hey...Zoey's awake." Bridget murmured and they turned their attention to Zoey who was stirring.

"Hiya...hi gang." She murmured and squinted at the faces peering down at her. "What happened...Elliot and Wesley, you're alright..."

"Hey girl, yeah we're alright." Elliot replied softly. As Zoey slowly gathered her senses, she could smell something enticing. It was warm, spicy and musky, with woody undertones that sent her hairs standing on end and it was unmistakably male. She cast her eyes around for the source that sent her blushing furiously and her eyes landed on a man. He was handsomely built, even without seeing his face since he was turned the other way.

"Yeah...that's Dren." Whispered Corina, "Isn't he hot!" She added next to her ear.

"Corina!" Zoey exclaimed looking at her in surprise.

"Oh it's not a secret." Renee spoke with a smile, "Look at him, he could pass off as a model if it weren't for the ears."

"Alright girls, I'm heading up for a shower." Elliot interrupted, "He should be fine here, try not to aggravate him." And he stalked off.

"What's his problem?" Kikki asked curiously.

"My guess is he's jealous." Wesley laughed, "But he's right, I need to shower...I'll catch up with you all later, just keep Dren here for now he's practically harmless."

As soon as he was gone the girls surrounded Dren in a circle as he sat on the chair. "What do you think we should do with him?" Renee asked the group who all murmured and whispered in concern to each other.

"We should...I dunno, keep him prisoner since he's forgotten everything." Corina said and they nodded in agreement.

"So...Dren, you don't remember me?" Zoey asked him quietly.

"No." Dren replied evenly turning his face towards her. She was slightly taken aback by the abrupt answer but more so by his face. His eyes were pools of amber honey, and his face was so sharp...and angularly cut, so chiselled for definition. It was a beautiful face, sculpted with masculine features. He stared back at her. There was nothing so interesting about her appearance so his attention was quickly transferred to a flower pot he spied sat on a window sill.

"I...I'm going to go home girls." Zoey said, straightening up her face a dark red. "I'm covered in dust..."

"Alright...I'll walk you home Zoey, you just woke up anyway." Bridget offered kindly and her leader nodded in reply. "See you girls later."

They began a slow walk home and Zoey felt brave and tired enough to ask a question. "Was it just me or did you smell something about Dren...like not a bad smell...but a..."

"A soft enchanting aroma around his body, emitting off his skin like the rays off a sun...It was pulling me deep into his heart and perhaps it was an insight into his love, it was a primal pull of lust. As fiery and masculine as his musk...such a man on Earth has not existed but we find him as a Cyn-" Was the poetic reply.

"Alright Bridget...I think I get it..." She muttered with a sweat drop. But secretly she had felt the mix of emotions inside her. And as airy as Bridget made it sound, it was unmistakable and the very memory of it made her blush from the roots of her hair to the tip of her noise. She also felt a little sad, his attention on her was sorely lacking now and she was sure she'd miss it if only a little.

Dren how ever was being eyed up greedily by the other Mew Mew teams, most too infatuated by his looks and musk to talk to him. He watched them with wide eyes as they whispered around him, sneaking quick glances at him. "Alright girls, clear out and go home, I'm going to help dress him." Elliot told them sternly when he returned. And he tossed Dren a pair of boxers that the Cyniclon caught easily. The girls trudged out almost reluctantly and left the cafe, the ringing of the doorbell telling Elliot that.

"Get dressed." The human told him leaving a shirt and pants on the floor, with some socks. "I borrowed these from Wesley seeing as he's more of your height."

"Anek u." Dren replied with a small bow and pulled the clothes on rather clumsily. It fit him well enough though the shirt was a little too tight to button it all the way to the top.

"Seeing as the experiment left you with nothing but your basic Cyniclon behaviour, you're a brand new Cyniclon, so you have a brand new start." The teenager said, "My name is Elliot, your name is Dren."

"My name is Dren." The Alien said flatly, and the teenager realised that the Cyniclon's capacity for intelligence was unlimited and ever changing. Merely hours after waking up he'd already mastered the grammar of language. "Brand new start and new dress." Dren added, he was able to form sentences now, Elliot noticed.

"Right...so let me just pass you...this." And he disappeared into the kitchens for a minute and pulled out a thick cookery book. "It'll keep you occupied." Dren looked at it in amusement and began turning the pages slowly. A few hours later when Wesley returned Dren was crouched by the oven peering close to the glass pane while Elliot sat on a chair sipping Earl Grey tea.

"Well, looks like someone's been busy." He commented sniffing the air that was heavy with the scent of a rich cake baking. "It doesn't smell too bad either, that's some good sponge rising." He added looking at the cake in the oven next to Dren's head, the Cyniclon blinked once at him and spoke.

"I agree, the texture of it was very becoming and the batter was simply delightful, all hand beat by myself." Dren said with an impish grin. His language was unnerving and unsettled Wesley slightly.

"Well I can tell your going to be immensely popular with the ladies at the cafe..." He chuckled picking up his stray cookery books that were strewn all over the counters.

"Indeed, they might even want to include you in our fan club." Elliot added dryly giving Dren a cold look which the Cyniclon shrugged off. "Also Dren, I'm interested in offering you a place at the Mew Mew cafe kitchens. I'm sure Wesley would appreciate your charming good lucks."

"I'll gladly accept." Dren replied evenly with his rich tone of voice.

"Your vocabulary has developed incredibly Dren, how did you do it?" Wesley asked him curiously,

"I read books and my Cyniclon intelligence allows me to adapt faster than any primitive life form on this planet. Or so I deduced." And the head chef nodded satisfied with the answer.

"I quite enjoy this new you Dren, beats the whole "I must destroy the world" attitude you had before." The elder teen chuckled and the alien cocked his head to a side in confusion. "Oh never mind, speaking of the Mew Mew cafe, we're due to open tomorrow so after the kitchen is all cleared up I'd suggest you'd better get a good night's sleep."

"There's not a chance of the lab being put right any time soon." Elliot sighed and rubbed at his temples. "There's the guest room you can have upstairs, come up when you're ready and I'll show you it."

"Remember, I want my kitchen clean." Wesley added before traipsing out after Elliot to the stairs. "He seems awfully chirpy and bright but I am...absolutely bushed." He groaned rubbing his shoulders.

"Agreed...what I'm worrying about is what will happen when the other Cyniclons find out about this." Elliot muttered, stifling a yawn. "Also I want to know what his effect on girls is...something about his adult form made all the Mew Mews give him..."

"Rather predatory looks."

"Indeed."

After cleaning the kitchen methodically and putting the cooled cake into the storage, Dren walked up the stairs, feeling the curved tip of his ears as he went. _"Such a strange predicament...working in a "cafe" with these humans. What is odd is that I have no recollection of anything before waking up in their tattered lab...perhaps they are my creators of Cyniclon Dren. Despite them being so primitive."_ He thought to himself through his natural tongue. He slid under the duvet in his room and curled up tightly against the sheet, his thoughts a thick mixture of confusion, rather like a mix of flour and butter cream.

Author's Note : Seeing as Dren is somewhat brain washed you might hear a little more about Zoey's feelings and thoughts in the future :)


	6. Piecing together his past

"Hello Bridget."

"Oh!" She cried, jumping slightly at the voice, "H-Hi Dren."

"Can you take this out please?" The Cyniclon asked her kindly as he held a plate of chocolate cake with strawberry mousse out to her. He wore an apron tightly around his body showing his sleekness, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows showing his strong forearms. "Bridget? Bridget are you alright?" Dren asked her giving her a funny look.

"Oh! Yes- right away! What table is it?" She asked with an embarrassed blush to her face, as she looked towards the floor.

"Table 7." And he gave her a smile, though privately he felt it was an empty one.

"Aww he's killing them already." Elliot chuckled as Bridget hurried back out to the cafe floor. He sat on the table reading the daily newspaper with a mug of coffee next to him.

"Killing them?" Dren asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It was a joke, humour. Nevermind." Elliot sighed, "The other Mew Mews haven't turned up yet, I'll call them up and see where they are." He jumped off the table to enter his study leaving Dren and Wesley to their baking. The Cyniclon was a hard worker and stirred, rolled and baked relentlessly, Wesley noticed.

"Here take this out to table four for me, just ask the girls what table it is. They'll know more than I do since Elliot reconfigured the layout." He told him pushing the trolley towards him that was laden with several plates of cake and jelly.

"Okay." Dren replied obediently. He took the trolley and wheeled it out past the saloon doors. Entering the cafe for the first time with customers present was rather offsetting and he looked around in mild confusion. In one corner was Corina sipping tea, while Bridget and Renee ran around to different tables recklessly. He made his way slowly towards the blue haired girl, "Hi there."

She looked up with dark sapphire blue eyes and choked on her tea violently. Hastily mopping the liquid from her chin with a napkin, she stood up quickly looking at him with a blush, "Hi there- Dren! What a surprise, what's up?" She asked him breathlessly.

"Where table four?" He asked her and she blanched a little at the question.

"Erm...that one." And she pointed at the table close to the door. He looked at it with focus and thanked her, moving carefully between tables and the bulky trolley. Unbeknown to him, all the high school and college girls had turned their heads pointedly towards him.

"What's he doing out here?" Renee hissed to Bridget as they watched Dren manoeuvre his way around the tables.

"I'm not sure...at least his little kitchen bandana is hiding his ears." Bridget replied seeing how the red checked bandana covered his ears well.

"I better go over ..." Renee sighed as she saw the girls stare at Dren possessively.

"So you didn't order...the pineapple cake slice, and you didn't order the tropical jelly? Or the Citrus gateau?" He looked at the three girls and received vacant stares accompanied by strong blushes.

"Ladies." Renee interrupted her cold eyes snapping their attention from him. "This isn't your order, but it'll be out soon." She told them sternly with a snarl on her face. And she pushed Dren and the trolley away from them. "Dren, what are you doing out here? You're going to be mauled to death by all of them!"

"Mauled? But, no , Renee I was meant to deliver these to table four and Corina told me-" He began to explain with a slightly vacant stare as all the commotion was distracting him.

"This isn't table four, this is table seventeen! Never trust Corina about anything to do with the cafe..." She groaned, "No worries, just- just-just-" She had met her eyes with his and was already leaning closer to him, "Just-" she was leaning closer and closer and closer...falling into the pools of amber coloured honey.

"Yes?" Dren asked her sharply, his pitch a notch higher than normal to snap her back from her trance.

"Get back to the kitchen Dren." And steadied herself with a hand on the trolley. He gave her a quizzical look and hurried back to Wesley, suddenly acutely aware of the female stares he gathered around him, already their buzz of inane chatter was scorching his sensitive hearing and they all seemed to be commenting on how hot something was, perhaps it was the desserts...

"Wesley, it's frothing like sherbet in water out there." He muttered with a heavy sigh, "My ears are burning with all the noise...and are our desserts too hot? All the customers seem to be muttering about something being hot."

"I suspect it's you that is "too hot"." Elliot said dryly with a stretch pushing past the saloon doors. "I asked Renee what happened on my way back and it seems we need a little chat after work Dren, try to avoid going out the kitchen for now."

"Okay," Dren replied with a puzzled expression. "Where is Zoey and Kikki?" He asked him and the human shot him an odd look.

"Kikki has just come in to work now, and I'm guessing Zoey took the day off without permission. Her phone is dead." Elliot told Wesley,

"It may have been blown to pieces in the lab that we still haven't cleared out." The baker suggested with a dry laugh. And Elliot nodded in silent agreement.

"Humans are strange." Dren told Wesley after Elliot had left again with his paper.

"Are we? You're pretty strange yourself." Wesley replied though not unkindly.

"The jokes and humour thing is all too new, and sometimes words you use pragmatically don't have a meaning..." He added while helping Wesley cut slices off a huge blueberry adorned cake. "And as for Zoey not attending work, her actions were not administered and should be punished as she acted out of ranking."

"Your race seems to be built upon categories and roles of life rather strictly...as humans sometimes we say stuff but don't mean it directly. Like this for example, "I think you're really hot." You'll hear this a lot, cafe Mew Mew seems to attract all the high schoolers."

"Doesn't that mean that you think I am radiating heat?" Dren asked him, and the human laughed,

"If only that were true. It actually means that you are attractive to them."

"Attractive?" He echoed and the man nodded in reply.

"Means that females are attracted to you, they like you and from the reactions out there, they're all dying to know who you are." Wesley told him, "Which is why I want to hold a welcome ceremony for you tomorrow. Hopefully Zoey will be here." He added while putting whipped cream on more cake. "I know for a fact she's probably taken the day off because she can't face you."

"Zoey is the red haired human yes?" Dren asked as he put more cake on plates for him.

"Indeed. It'll be nice having you around."

"Why can't she face me?"

"I'll let her explain to you." And with that sentence, Dren's first day in the cafe ended. He sank into a chair feeling rather tired, behind him Welsey cut up a large fruit tart ready for the Mew Mew team to eat. "It should be empty of customers now, Dren you can take this outside while I wash up."

"Okay." Dren said taking the trolley to wheel it out. Outside the Mew Mew team was sank over various tables and chair looking profusely exhausted.

"FOOD!" Kikki cried aloud jumping to her feet. He handed plates of the tart around and received many grateful thanks.

"There is only four of you, where is red haired Zoey? Is she still not here?" He asked them curiously.

"God knows, probably lying at home pretending to be ill." Corina said between bites of her fruit tart.

"Here you can have a piece." Wesley said giving him a generous cut of the fruit tart. "You worked well today, and it was pretty busy since we've been closed."

"Thank you." Dren replied quietly looking closely at the glazed fruit and tropical puree filling on top of a biscuit bottom.

"What's the matter?" Bridget asked him after he hadn't moved for a while.

"Err..." Dren croaked out and looked pointedly at Elliot.

"I...Why aren't you eating like you normally do?" The boy genuis looked up in surprise,

"He's right, he'll have forgotten how to use magic after...the accident. Just cut some off with your spoon Dren and put it in your mouth, chewing before you swallow. Like this." And he ate some of the fruit tart just to show blinked at him stupidly and he sighed. "Here." He raised a spoonful of cake to Dren's mouth and the alien took the hint and gently took the spoon into his mouth.

"That right." Elliot told him and returned to his own plate. Dren however mulled over it and found himself repeating the instructions if a bit awkwardly. It was like teaching a child the basics of life, Elliot noted.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Kikki asked him with a grin and he shook his head.

"Guys let me in!" And a sharp rap was heard on the door.

"That must be Zoey." Bridge said going to the door.

"You remember her don't you?" Elliot asked him and he nodded in reply.

"Hi Elliot, sorry I couldn't come into work today I was too tired and slept the entire day away." She told him apologetically with a little bow and he waved it off.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is Dren. I wanted to talk to you all, I've noticed a change over all you girls today whenever you're sat near or next to him, now tell me why." His point was reinforced as there was a clear three metre radius around Dren devoid of females. Instantly he noticed they all blushed and clamped their mouths shut.

"Have I done something wrong?" The Cyniclon asked them all softly, he was staring acutely at Zoey after hearing what Wesley had said. But she avoided his eyes. "Do you not like me?" He asked her pointedly and everyone jumped into life.

"No!"

"Never!"

"Of course we do-"

"It's just- "

"You smell!" Kikki burst aloud and hid behind Zoey's legs instantly. The men and Dren looked at her in surprise. He sniffed himself carefully, his senses picking nothing up, "But I don't." He replied blandly, Elliot and Wesley sniffed around him also and reported the same.

"It must be pheromones then..." Elliot concluded with a grim look, "What does it smell like to you girls?"

"Like fresh fruit-" Kikki chirped aloud,

"No- it's more of woody undertone-" Renee butted in,

"A crystallized note of dewy water from a mountain stream!" Corina added,

"Soft oriental notes of the mysterio-" Bridget sighed softly. And Elliot groaned as the rush of voices were fired at him relentlessly.

"Girls, girls...hold it. I'm getting earache." He gave a groan of relief as silence ensured. And Dren allowed his ears to relax after the burst of noise. "Zoey what do you smell?" The cyniclon asked her curiously with a small impish grin seeing as she hadn't joined in the mass influx of voices.

"I...smell...a spicy, rich tang of something velvety." She murmured her eyes half closed and vaguely fixated on Dren.

"I...don't smell anything. This is illogical. Are you sure they are behaving normally?" Dren asked Wesley hastily as he got to his feet in alarm. And Zoey focused back on him. His body was so tense and alert that even his fangs were being bared to all.

"Calm down, we'll just find a way around this." Elliot told him sharply and the Cyniclon sat down rather rigidly. "Girls, I'll find some nose strips for you all tomorrow so that you can work together with him without being affected aversely."

"But for now, we all need to have dinner and you all need to get home." Wesley suggested seeing the tired faces return as Dren had pushed his chair away slightly.

"You're right, I can't bear my face being around his for so long...makes me feel like I need to be pampered and made pretty." Renee groaned her eyes lingering jealously on Dren's skin and sculpted face. The other girls gradually began to gather their coats and items but Zoey remained seated.

"Is there something wrong?" Elliot asked her as Wesley left for the kitchen again.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk about the experiment." She said rather shakily and Dren pricked his ears attentively.

"Not today Zoey." Elliot told her firmly and glared at her. "What you can do is talk to Dren for a while. It's rude to meet a guest and leave him alone for the whole day." He added before leaving for his study despite her protests.

"Urgh he's such an ass!" She growled and stamped her foot on the ground after he was gone, "Would it kill him to say a few more words?"

"Probably not, words don't tend to kill many people." Dren told her calmly he was still holding his slice of fruit cake.

"Well...how...are you?" She asked him tentatively feeling a hot flush of embarrassment rise on her face as it did whenever Mark was around. Dren instinctively noticed the colour change in her skin.

"I am fine thank you." He replied evenly and studied her, "Why have you gone red?" She gave a little gasp and clasped her hands to her face. "Perhaps you are hungry. Here have some fruit." He picked up a strawberry and held it up to him. The sheer innocence of his eyes was almost too much. This was a personality that was open to the world and oblivious of his darker nature. He stretched forwards a little bit more till the strawberry was touching her lips. He was almost mimicking what Elliot had shown him moments ago. She found herself taking the strawberry into her mouth, "There isn't it tasty?"

"I-I I have to go." She stood up hurriedly after swallowing the fruit hazardously. She bolted away despite him calling out for her to stop.

"What a strange creature." He muttered running a hand through his hair in frustration. She stopped to fumble at the door of the cafe and he focused on the point beyond the door determined to bar her way. "Her behaviour _is erratic and needed to be fully explained before her leave_." He thought with a little scowl. A surge of untapped power, an ethereal glow and he found himself blinking into the night sky with a slight weight on his chest.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Zoey yelped, the tip of her nose touching his. Dren was flat on his back as Zoey rammed hard into his chest knocking them both to the floor. "Y-you just came out of nowhere I-" she babbled scrambling backwards clumsily only to land on her bottom.

"I...must have used my magic." Dren replied breathlessly, drawing up one knee close to his chest and rested a strong arm on it. It was a pose, a rather sexy pose she thought to herself with a sharp intake of breath, "You pack quite a strong hit Zoey." He told her and she nodded, clamping her jaws shut. She noticed that his markings were white and paled away into nothing even as she watched.

His hair fell into a messy mop of hair that gave him a rough, bed head look and he noticed that she couldn't take her eyes off him. "Well, I apologise for ruining your night Zoey. But I must insist you communicate with me. Cookery books can only expand my vocabulary so far. Any form of social interaction would benefit me."

"Oh no! No! No! You didn't ruin my night – no not at all!" She stammered quickly giving him a broad sheepish grin. "And social interaction – ahahahaha- I'm not very good at that!"

"I can hear your heart." Dren commented wincing a little as his ears focused slightly on the rhythmic thumping within her chest. He stood up and offered her a hand, she took it gladly and he pulled her to her feet easily.

"Oh – I...have to go." Zoey muttered to him and dashed away into the night. Ordinarily he would have planted a tantalising kiss on her lips but now for the new Dren, anything of that was out of the question.

"Right, good bye red faced Zoey." He called out after her and dusted his shirt down. Walking back into the cafe he saw that Wesley and Elliot were laying out the table in preparation for a quick dinner.

"Welcome back." Elliot said as he approached, "I see you have a rather adverse reaction to Zoey."

"She's a strange creature, she turns red whenever I speak to her. Perhaps she has eaten too many tomatoes or cherries." Dren mused aloud and gave another stretch. "I also managed to tap into my magic...I transported to outside of the door." He grinned at Elliot who looked up with alarm.

"You did...that naturally?" He asked him cautiously as they sat down.

"I guess, but now I don't feel it anymore. It was like yeast in bread rising, so much that the dough expands in all directions but now it's gone." Dren explained to them slowly as he picked up his chopsticks to eat the food. "I feel oddly empty."

"You don't seem surprised that you know magic." Wesley commented chewing slowly on some fish.

"I'm not, I have magic in my blood, but it's dormant. It's there but not accessible." Dren said looking down at his skin. Already he could feel the magic flowing through him as a part of him, always there for manipulation but how he still didn't know.

"It'd be good of you to practice using magic. Developing skills is vital." Wesley said encouragingly but Elliot scowled.

"Maybe you shouldn't use magic so much Dren, it can scare people and do terrible things." The blonde said grimly.

"Only if you lose control of it." The Cyniclon said quietly and swallowed a small mouthful of rice, "Are you both willing to indulge in the leisure of describing what happened in that lab of yours?" He asked and Elliot put down his bowl, looking at him straight in the eyes.

"What happened was you lost your memory about your previous life. All because you volunteered for a few tests and one you had an adverse reaction to." Elliot explained calmly. Dren's sensitive ears could pick up each syllable and the ringing tones of Elliot's voice box, his thumping of his heart as information was withheld.

"A vague truth, but satisfactory." Dren replied solemnly, finishing off his bowl of food quickly. He excused himself and walked wearily up the stairs.

"I think he knows we're hiding something." Wesley whispered to Elliot, Dren swivelled his ears so that it focused on their conversation. He tensed his fist and tugged at the power inside him, his veins seared with light as they protruded from the exertion. It burned a white light through his skin, spreading from his hands to cover his torso and face with stretched, tribal like patterns.

"He knows, but there's not much I can tell him anyway. What we recorded was most likely blown to pieces. I'll have to sort the lab out tomorrow morning and see what can be salvaged." And he heard the chair scraped back as if one of them was getting to their feet.

"Indeed. At least his obsessive behaviour towards Zoey is slaked." Wesley muttered and another chair scraped the floor, accompanied with a little noise as plates were collected. Seeing as there wasn't much more to be hear, Dren continued on his way to this room. The markings on his skin now illuminated the corridor he prowled down, his amber eyes glinting in the reflected light.

"Unek." He breathed aloud, his hand above the handle to his door. He felt the magic tendrils tug at his fingers willing to be released but something was restricting him. After a few moments of frustration, he dropped his control over his natural gift, opting to push the door openly roughly instead.

Flopping down on his bed he stared up in the ceiling, wondering how off Earth he had managed to get himself in this situation. His thoughts returned to Zoey, and how the female seemed to know so much more about him than he did...he sat up straight and glanced out the window. It was a cool night, "Perfect." He hissed softly. That human with her secrets would not escape his grasp.

Zoey rolled around in her bed, the sheets entwining themselves against her body and limbs. She was barely conscious, her senses dulled with tiredness but she could feel the hairs on her skin stand straight as a breeze wafted over her. She could hear screaming, and it scratched at the corners of her mind. That alien, foreign voice howling with rage and pain, the scratching as his nails scraped on metal, his flesh burning with the pure magic within him, shining through his skin...

"You're awake." She snapped open her eyes and saw a hulking figure, his eyes a bright white, his skin scorched with thin brandings of magic.

"!" She screamed, her arms and legs flailing wildly. Dren pounced onto her hurriedly, clamping his mouth clumsily over hers, his legs straddling her body and his hands pinning her wrists down. Her heart rate was sky rocketing and he flattened his ears in a bid to deter the constant thumping.

"Be quiet." He muttered, his lips leaving hers. "I only want answers, just tell me what I want to hear." And he slowly backed away from her. He knelt on the bed as Zoey scrambled to the other side, bunching her duvet close around her.

"You-you kissed me..." She stared at him agape in horror.

"I intended to muffle your screaming with my hand but then you would have had a limb free to strike at me. Therefore strategically "kissed" as you call it seemed the only way you silence you without bodily harm." He replied thoroughly unaware of his effect on her. As far as he was concerned it was as harmless as holding hands.

"O-okay...you just scared me that's all." She panted aloud as she stared at his softly illuminated form and mopped her face with her pyjama sleeve. "How did you-" He pointed a slender finger to the window that was pushed ajar.

"I followed your scent here." And she drew breath to ask more questions but he hissed lowly and put a finger to his lips. "Your parents are awake." He whispered to her softly. And crawled over to beside her.

"You can't stay here!" Zoey exclaimed scrabbling away from him so that she stood on the floor, even then she could hear the floorboards creaking as people approached. "What will they think, if they-"

"Zoey? Honey are you alright?" A female voice called out, followed shortly by a sharp rap on the door.

"Zoey if there's someone in there, they shouldn't be!" Dren heard a deeper voice call out, and his ears picked up something wooden shifting around behind the flimsy wooden door. He bared his fangs as the object rapped on the door, it must be a weapon he thought instinctively.

"Dad! No don't come in! There's no one here!" She flung herself at the door as it cracked open a fraction, slamming it back closed tightly.

"But we heard voices..."

"No mom, that was just me – talking – to myself!" Zoey explained hurriedly her hair standing on end as more questions followed.

"Do you have a secret boyfriend in there?" Her dad asked shrewdly and Zoey grew a hot blush. "If you do – he's in serious trouble! I've already got my baseball bat out!"

"No-No, as if a boy was in here! That's ridiculous!" She laughed hollowly as Dren sat unmoving directly facing her.

"Should I help you Zoey?" He asked her and she gave a little yelp of anguish. "I could help restrain the intruders."

"Who was that?" Her parents asked simultaneously, and he watched a bead of sweat roll down her face slowly.

"It was – It was my phone- I'm on the phone to Mark!" She cried aloud and breathed a loud sigh of relief as a collective "Oh!" sound was heard.

"Well don't stay up too long deary, you've got college tomorrow!" Her mum chirruped,

"If it's Mark then it's alright, anyone else and they'd have been mince meat."

"I won't mum..." Zoey muttered in reply and her shoulders sagged with relief as their footsteps moved away. With her back to the door she slid to the floor in exhaustion.

"Lying appears to be a very good quality of yours." Dren told her softly and he watched her flinch a little. He was on all fours, peering at her with his head cocked to the side slightly, "Perhaps it has something to with your personality...a liar at heart?"

"That's very rude!" Zoey hissed angrily and turned her gaze away from his handsome face that was eerily lit up by his magic.

"It is?" Dren asked her innocently, his large eyes round in the dark.

"Yes it is." She replied sharply, "Can't you...not glow?" She asked him and pointed to his arm where a thin vein shone brilliant white light.

"I can stop myself "glowing" right now but you'd never be able to see in the dark like I. And if you switched a light on, your parents will know that you are awake." He told her and she mouthed a small "Oh" in understanding. "Yes...the magic is a part of me, by merely touching its surface in me the magic will shine through my skin. It's almost like the blood in..." But by now Zoey had tuned out, he was irresistibly gorgeous...so masculine and..."Zoey?" He asked, the roll of his tongue as he said her name was so gentle, she was so focused on his lips, they entranced her how soft they looked...

"What's the matter Zoey?" Dren muttered hurriedly as he fell backwards onto his bottom as she edged towards him. Her hand intertwined in his shirt tightly as she shuffled forwards on her knees.

"Err..."

"Err?"

"Err...I was just checking your shirt to see if it was buttoned correctly!" She laughed feebly whilst patting his chest and he raised an eyebrow.

"I can dress myself." He told her blandly, pushing her hands off his shirt.

"Okaaaay, right em...so erm what was it that you wanted?" She asked him quietly and gave her hair a rough shake, hiding her furious blush of shame that she was consciously aware of. It must have been his scent and that heavenly kiss from before that was affecting her.

"Your hair is fine." Dren told her flatly. And she looked at him with a puzzled expression,

"Seeing as I just woke up, it probably isn't, I can't see anything without light." She muttered and Dren ignored her comment knowing too well her weak human vision could tell that he was illuminating the room.

"What I really want to know is, who am I, how did I get here?" He asked her darkly. "You know the answers, I can see if from your eyes." There was like a low purr of a threat beneath his voice just enough for to make her skin prickle uneasily. "It'd be useless of me to ask Elliot and Wesley, they believe me too unstable to understand the truth."

"I...um...okay Dren, what happened was that you were experimented on..." Zoey mumbled and sat on the floor cross legged. She then proceeded to regurgitate everything she knew at him regarding the experiment. He stared at her passively, his lovely amber eyes blinking slowly as this information was passed on to him. "So um...yeah that's it." She mumbled and stifled a yawn.

"Thank you." Dren said blandly and got to his feet. He crossed her room and opened her window a little wider.

"Wait are you going?" She asked him cautiously. He looked at her face and was surprised to see a solemn expression.

"Pragmatically I understand that you wish me to stay." He replied quietly.

"ER- no! I mean it's too dangerous for you to stay, I would have liked to understand you a bit better but maybe we'll leave that for another day, so you get home." In a blink of an eye he was gone. Zoey staggered across to the window, feeling decidedly lonely, she put her hands on the window sill and watched the lone figure, with his ethereal light walk away coolly.

"She has given me much to think about." Dren muttered to himself as he retraced his steps to the Mew Mew cafe. He leapt back up to his window with agile strength and flexibility, his supple limbs making short work of climbing. He snuggled under his bed and shut his great amber eyes, _"I shall need all the rest I can get if I am to piece my past together."Get to know you better" Just why is that human so intrigued by me?" _ He thought with an air of finality before drifting into a light sleep


	7. We're different, but we're the same

"Good afternoon ladies, let me show the three of you to your table." Dren said quietly and led the customers to an empty table despite their wide eyed ogling at him.

"You'll have to be louder than that." Elliot told him smartly with a smirk and sipped his cup of tea beside Corina as he eyed the Alien distastefully.

"I don't enjoy drawing attention to myself." Dren told him blandly turning his large eyes towards him.

"I'm afraid that's what you're going to have to do seeing as both Kikki and Bridget are off today." He replied tensely. Dren gave a low groan of complaint and turned back to his customers.

"So here's the menu for today, I'll be back in a little while to take your order. Good day." He told them all with a weak smile.

"Well how's the deodorant working?" Corina asked Dren slyly with a smile as he walked back to the table.

"I'm sure that you can tell me." He replied coyly and hurried off as a table called him over with a frantic handwave.

"You know he's still charming but I'm not feeling any...effects." She told Elliot who nodded his head in response.

"I'm glad it worked, although there's no way to disguise his good lucks." He replied and watched as Dren placed a large dessert platter on a table. And immediately was at the risk of being fondled and having his face groped.

"Dren, maybe you should stay inside the kitchen from now on." Zoey told him slowly after he detached himself from the girls on the table with a sheepish grin. "It seems safer, I can carry out the orders you started-"

"It's a kind offer Zoey but I'm sure that you need me more out here than Wesley does in there." He replied evenly.

"Okay then." She replied cheerily and ran off to serve some more customers. A few moments later and Dren heard a little shriek.

"Ah! Mark- Mark! Hi!" Zoey gasped, and bounded over to him. He greeted her warmly with a beaming smile.

"Hi there, Zoey I was hoping you would be working today. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time." He said to her and took a glance round the cafe.

"No-no! Of course not, come here and I'll find you a table!" Zoey told him happily and led him towards an empty one. "So what can I get you?" She asked him breathlessly. He gave a little laugh and blinked once, his thick eyelashes, fanned out perfectly she thought.

"Hold on there, I've only just sat down!" He told her. "So where's this menu?" He asked her teasingly.

"Right here!" She told him and passed him a copy of the menu. "We have a really good lemon cheesecake that's on offer now, and these sundaes are new to our menu!"

"I see you've learnt your lines well." Mark said teasingly and gave her a brilliant smile causing her to blush darkly.

"Zoey, we need you over here." A rich voice called her out over the noise.

"Huh? Oh right, I'm coming Dren!" As soon as she said that, her face paled and she grew a cold sweat. "I'll be right back M-Mark."

"Dren? Isn't that...the guy from the fair?" Mark said slowly, a frown on his face as he stood up. Zoey cried out in alarm but it was too late the Cyniclon was spotted and the teenager scowled darkly at him. Even worse was that Dren was now making his way towards her.

"Ah! Maybe you should get back into the kitchen Dren!" Zoey exclaimed hurriedly and pushed at his torso till the Cyniclon took a step back.

"But why Zoey? These desserts and drinks need to be out-"

"It doesn't matter, I need to get you-"

"Zoey, it's alright." Mark told her softly. He put a hand on her shoulder and she stopped her pushing to brush bangs out of her face.

"I-I-I don't know what to say." She said softly to Mark. Dren twitched his ears in confusion beneath his bandana as she put on a bashful expression and side stepped out of their way.

"We're cool. Clearly he's not going to be doing any damage if he's working in here." Mark said cheerily, "Hello...Dren."

"Hello human." Dren said to him blandly, his amber eyes registering distaste in the human's eyes but nothing more dangerous. The calmness this human exacerbated was odd, almost annoying at how calm and collected he appeared, similar to Elliot's behaviour.

"Ah! You can't call people human!" She exclaimed with a blush.

"Why not? You are humans after all." He replied quietly, he was rather aware that Mark was watching this exchange with interest. Avid interest.

"This isn't the time Dren!" She replied to him hotly, "Here give me some of them, I'll get these out." And she took several desserts and drinks muttered a hurried apology to Mark and ran off. Seeing as Dren would be impossible to move back to the kitchen, it was easier to make herself scarce.

"She seems rather highly strung today." Dren remarked and made to turn away from Mark.

"Hold on, after work I'd like to talk to Zoey about why you're here. I mean there's so many questions, that I need the answers to." He said with a pleading note in his voice.

"I am not the one with the answers." The Cyniclon replied evenly, his tone masking any emotion beautifully. Mark was dumb struck, this alien that emanated destruction at their last meeting was now serving cake to customers without a hint of emotion. "Perhaps if you take your seat and have something to eat, then Zoey will find time to explain to you."

"Right, yeah Zoey must know." Mark said quietly and returned to his seat as Dren began to serve tables again. An hour passed into the evening and Zoey finally sat down opposite Mark on his table, sighing with relief that the day was almost over.

"Sorry about keeping you waiting." She said lowly and stared apologetically at him. He gave her a small smile that was very brief.

"I think we may need to have a little talk." He said and looked pointedly over at Dren who was slumped over a table in exhaustion.

"I know you're going to ask how Dren is here, but erm...that isn't Dren. That's his older brother." She told Mark, her heart was beating at a fast pace.

"Why have they got the same name and face?"

"Erm...we don't know. He just turned up one day looking for work and that's all I know." Zoey told him meekly. Dren looked across at them, he had heard every word clearly and saw how uncomfortable she looked as Mark merely stared back at her. A slow silence ensured.

"Well if that's all..." Mark said slowly with disbelief and Zoey had such a sad expression that he nimbly changed subject, "So how was work today? It seemed pretty busy."

"Yeah, it was...I'm really tired. Do you wanna go out sometime Mark?" She asked him hopefully, quite glad of the subject change.

"Maybe another day Zoey, I can tell that you're really tired." He said kindly and Dren noticed how she failed to hide her disappointment, he flicked her ear once in mild annoyance.

"Erm well..." She mumbled and they sat there for a moment in silence.

"Zoey I came here to see you, won't you cheer up?" He asked her quietly. And she didn't reply. Dren stood up and made his way over to the table.

"Zoey, we're having a team meeting in the kitchen, you might want to join." He told her and she nodded still speechless. They walked into the kitchen which was empty since Wesley was down in storage stocking up ingredients.

"There's no one here." She said quietly and turned to Dren who looked at her with a soft expression.

"I know."

"So why did you bring me in here?" She asked him, her voice shaky as she felt his cool touch on her face. In reality he'd only put his hand on her forehead.

"Your rapid heartbeat was clouding my hearing. Clearly that human was distressing you, so I brought you in here to calm down." He told her quietly and looked at her face. "Still quite red. I should tell him to go."

"No don't!" She cried out and grabbed his arm. "I-I don't want him to go."

"It's too late." Dren told her simply and a second later they both heard the door open and close, accompanied by the lone sound of the bell jingling.

"Oh Mark!" Zoey cried aloud, her eyes welling up with tears. She ran back to his table but found only a note left for her.

"I'm sorry I upset you Zoey, I'll call you later to check up on you."

"That's very kind of him." Dren remarked blandly and she rounded on him with an angry look.

"This is your fault – if you hadn't showed up then he wouldn't be mad at me and he-" She ranted on and on for five full minutes. His ears were scorched well and truly by the time she'd finished.

"I apologise." He said flatly, his ears twisted away from the noise and he blinked once. His intelligence was remembering this short outburst of emotions. Clearly humans had very fragile tempers, what an annoyance. He turned away and went up the stairs to shower a habit he'd learnt, through a hygiene pamphlet, that wasn't frowned upon. Frankly it was a waste of time he thought as he washed his hair roughly with a sweet smelling shampoo belonging to Wesley.

"Dren?" Zoey's voice called outside the door, it was followed by a short knock on the door.

"I'm here." He replied switching the shower off. He stepped out with shampoo suds still in his hair and wound a towel round his hips tightly before opening the door. Anything he'd learnt, indecency was not tolerated.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her. He opened the door and saw that she had her back turned to him.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." She said quietly and he gave a small smile.

"It's alright, you humans have frequent out bursts of rage, just like Wesley does when the icing doesn't set right on a cake. That much I have learnt."

"I-no it's not just that. I shouldn't have ranted at you over Mark like that. Corina gave me an earful after you went upstairs." She said sadly and chewed her lip as she thought some more. Dren put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. "I'm sorry that I overreacted. I just thought he would flip on you seeing as you didn't...get on very well last time. But never mind, you can't remember that."

Dren sympathized with her and felt slightly sad. He reached an arm around her and pulled her against his chest in a rough embrace. "This is what humans do when other humans are sad. Your apology is accepted, there should be no shame in our friendship."

"Thankyou..." She gasped. He was far kinder than she'd even imagined him and his wet torso felt so sexy against her. They remained motionless for a moment until he let her go, he laid a hand on her shoulder and turned her away from him.

"I'll be out in a moment." He said cautiously and backed away but she followed him, almost doggedly into the shower room.

"I'm so useless..." She whispered lowly and her eyes welled up slightly with tears.

"You do know Zoey that there isn't a quality you possess that I want, you're not useless." Dren said, hoping it was an encouraging statement to her. Inside the room that was hot and full of steam he seemed even sexier to her despite his harsh comments.

She was powerless to resist looking at him as he backed away from her till he hit the wall. Tiny water droplets had settled onto his hair and gave him a dewy look, with his amber eyes blinking innocently at her. How she longed to run her hands over those muscles and through that hair. Already her hands were placed over his chest. He recoiled away from her touch as she edged even closer, her cheeks all a flush and eyes misted over slightly. "I'll be back out later." He said firmly, knowing too well his Cyniclon musk had an effect on females. It was stronger to Zoey than to the others, and he wondered why. Could it be that she was subconsciously willing to submit to him? He pushed her out of the shower room forcefully, before slamming the door closed and locking it. He exited the shower after a few minutes and found her sat on the floor next to the room looking very sad.

"It happened again didn't it?" She asked him quietly and he nodded. The smell of his deodorant was strong in the air but at least now Zoey could retain her senses.

"It is not your fault Zoey. Come let me offer you a chair in my room, it is what humans do for guests right?" He said lightly and walked across to his room, opening the door for her to enter first. "I have an idea that you feel the need to ask questions."

"Yeah, yeah I do." She plonked herself down on the only chair visible in the meticulously tidy room and looked up at him. He himself sat cross legged on the bed and stared at her unblinkingly. "Erm...I wanna know about you're species and how you think..." She mumbled in an embarrassed manner, "I didn't know when to ask you..."

"I'm sure you already know this Zoey, but how should I know when you yourself don't?" He asked her in an even tone, the masculine voice declaring his meaning even clearer. His fingers intertwined with each as he looked at her.

"Right...you forgot..." She said softly with an uneasy feeling. "You've changed a lot you know." She blurted out suddenly and he raised his eyebrows in amazement.

"And your subtly for such delicate matters is sorely lacking." He gave her a fanged grin that sent familiar shivers down her spine. Suddenly he didn't seem so different to her.

"Well you've changed but it's a good thing." She smiled back slowly. "Maybe we should go outside tomorrow after work? It'll do you good to learn more about the outside world, plus you'll be away from stinking Elliot."

"That'd be nice Zoey." He said flatly. She gave him a brilliant smile and he registered that there was no hot flush of her cheeks as she had when she smiled at Mark. Perhaps that was a good thing. He leant forward seeing her pleased expression that slowly waned into apprehension at his closeness.

"It's better for my ears when you are not screaming or shouting Zoey." He said honestly and she could see the truth in his eyes and they didn't lie. He leant even closer and licked her cheek once with his tongue. It wasn't a smooth tongue like a humans, but it was moist and rasped on her skin roughly. "That is my way of greeting a friend." He said softly. "So now you understand me a little better."

"I generally just say hi to a friend or hug them..." Zoey giggled feeling herself grow red.

And true to her word, tomorrow Zoey tugged him out of the cafe after work (without Elliot's permission) and into the soft evening light.

"Now this is the park!" She squealed excitedly running into the open grassland. Dren blinked around him in wonder, there was so much greener, life essences and sounds. He bent down to the ground and plucked a blade of grass, feeling its vessels snap between his fingers as he did so.

"Your world is so full of life. It seems a shame that humans destroy it." He muttered softly and dropped the blade of grass. He looked over at Zoey who was happily doing a cart wheel and her slender body was casting long shadows over the empty space.

"It feels so good to be finally out of the cafe and out with a friend!" She gasped and flopped onto the grass gratefully.

"Is this what humans do when you are happy?" Dren asked her curiously and he stood almost awkwardly beside her.

"Sit down you silly Cyniclon!" Zoey laughed and tugged at his jeans till he sat down slowly.

"I don't understand what we are doing."He told her stiffly and looked all around them in confusion. "Is this supposed to be fun?"

"It's called relaxing." She told him with a great sigh. "And I get to day dream all about Mark...he called me last night you know. And we made up, he said he was so sorry and promised he'd take me out!"

"He sounds humble." He replied,

"Yeah, he's perfect." She mumbled dreamily.

"So you say but you do not see." Dren said simply and she looked at him oddly. Her babbling about Mark often grated against his nerves.

"I can see fine..." She replied and he shook his head. His face was illuminated warmly by the sun, and his tense shoulders had relaxed finally, he leant back and placed his palms on the soft grass and stretched out.

"You do not see what I see."

"What do you see?" She asked him softly, she was enthralled by his soft tone of voice betraying his limitless knowledge.

"You call him perfect, but perfection is not a reality. Look at this sun light, you'd call it "beautiful" but look beneath the surface. Can't you see how the light is something much more than beauty? I can see how the life in this area is interlinking. The grass we are sat on, feeds off these rays of light whilst reflecting the other wavelengths. The insects crawling beneath us are talking to each other, chittering how they have borne sons and daughters. I can see how their lives differ to mine and how my life differs to yours...our difference is incredible. We shouldn't function together as "friends" yet we can sit here and still have life beating within us. That it's self is incredible. This entire planet...radiates nutrients and a primeval form of life..." He told her, finishing with a darker tone of voice. He pulled off his bandana after seeing that no one else was present and ran a hand fondly over his ears.

"That's pretty deep stuff..." She said quietly. "I guess you see a lot more things than I do..."

"I do." He told her with a lilting tone of voice. "What I don't see is how you are so sympathetic to your surroundings."

"What?" Zoey asked him with a more than quizzical look at him.

"You're human counterparts cause you to be so emotional. If a "pet" was dying, you humans tend to cry. I do not understand. Everything has a beginning and an end why should death be sad?"

"Well that's just us humans, we cry when things die." Zoey muttered awkwardly.

"Another example, your reaction to Mark was overrated. Just why did he do that to you? It wasn't a pleasant exchange and I'm sure he knew. But still you are not angry with him."

"It's because I love him..." She mumbled feeling slightly embarrassed and awkward at telling him. Dren flicked his ear in annoyance yet he did not fully understand why this notion pricked at his behaviour.

"Do you really?" He asked her gently turning his large amber eyes towards her.

"I...do?" Zoey began as she lost herself in that innocent face staring at her. "I mean I do!" She hurriedly corrected herself, and hugged her knees tightly looking away from him.

"I don't understand this fully. But no doubt I will soon with more experience of this planet." He said and turned away from her. By now more than half the sun had bled away behind the city they overlooked and the warm light was now accompanied by a chilly breeze, they sat in amiable silence. Merely enjoying the silence the opportunity provided for them.

"I love times like these." Zoey whispered and turned her head towards him. The Cyniclon seemed slightly more at ease now and he stared into the distance almost longingly.

"I find them...different." He told her slowly and she threw on a puzzled expression. "Perhaps we are too different to understand each other." And he lifted his own hand and stared at it thoughtfully.

"Oh let's forget your an alien for now Dren. You're my friend, no matter how different we are." Zoey said briskly and sat up. She took his hand and pressed her palm against his. His hand was considerably large but it was still similar save for elongated nails acting as the claws.

"We have the same humanoid shape I agree." He said stiffly feeling uneasy at her advances. She gave a little laugh,

"Try not to be so serious!" She giggled and gave him a smile. "I don't care if you have three fingers or no fingers. Fangs or no fangs." She said glancing at his mouth where the pure white showed slightly. "We're friends."

"I'm a Cyniclon and you're a human." He said blandly looking at her smaller hand. "It wouldn't work." He said stiffly and parted his hand.

"I think it would!" Zoey said enthusiastically, her expression showing that she was a little more than just crushed inside.

"And just why would you live in such an idealistic world?" He snapped at her and she stopped in her blithering. "I'm an alien. We have strange ways compared to you humans. Some I accept, others I will never."

"Well...what if I gradually showed you the ways of humans...maybe you'll learn to like us. And then we can be friends." She said to him meekly and he flicked his ear in response. She was playing on his curiosity. One weakness he hadn't managed to control just yet.

"Tell me more then."

"I knew you couldn't resist learning!" She laughed loudly and threw her arms around his neck, her head bumping into his clumsily. He stared at her in confusion, feeling an embarrassed blush rise to his face, he hurriedly tugged her off him.

"You're advances are far too obvious for my preference." He muttered and licked the back of his hand to groom his face, or rather to hide his embarrassment.

"Advances? Um...I'd prefer to think of it as the beginnings of our friendship!" She laughed and hugged him again. He was so much like a misbehaved child, resentful of the world but still had a yearning to know more. And she was going to teach him.


	8. She knew Dren would protect her

"Let's go to the zoo tomorrow Dren!" He looked up from the table he was wiping clean with a cloth and stared at her in amazement.

"The zoo? Isn't that the place where humans cage animals for their leisure?" He replied flatly and she cringed a little at his response.

"Well...when you put it like that...but really, they're put in there for conservation and stuff." She mumbled and gave a sigh, "But if you don't want to go we could just go the park again."

"No, no. It's alright, we'll go the zoo. It's a place I've read about before, but would like to see." He said straightening up with a smile. She gave a little cry of joy and gave him a hi-five before running off into the kitchens. Such a strange girl, Dren thought, he chuckled lowly at her happy expression. Lately they'd been spending more and more time together, whether it was exploring the outside world or just talking to each other to develop his vocabulary, they always made time for them both. "I do enjoy our time together." He thought with a smile and gave a last stretch. All this exploring did tend to tire him out. The constant flow of knowledge really did enrich his mind, not to mention the girl who insisted on constantly being by his side to educate him loosely.

"Here you go!" Zoey said cheerily and handed him a small container after she'd returned from the kitchen.

"What's this?" He asked taking it tentatively from her. But she only winked at him mischievously before tearing back into the kitchen again. "Hmm...I wonder." He muttered, already his sensitive nose had picked up a rather odd smell from the container. He yanked off the lid and was forced to suppress a rather odd expression, though his teeth gnashed together in surprise, his fangs showing slightly.

"Well do you like it!" Zoey demanded running back over to him with a fork. He looked at her blankly for a moment and prodded the contents cautiously.

"What is it?" He asked her and the girl dropped her jaw in amazement.

"It's a pancake! I made it for you – so go ahead and taste it!" She urged him on and pushed the fork into his hands. Her eyes watched him expectantly and they were so innocent he couldn't bear to say no.

"Err..." Dren stammered a little and looked from the blackened mess in the container to the determined and hopeful expression of his companion. "Must I?" He asked her weakly and that glare was all her needed for an answer.

Elliot felt the pages of his newspaper ruffle in his hands as a gust of wind blew past him and he looked up from the article he was reading. "Was that our esteemed Dren making a dash for it?" He asked Wesley who was busy stowing away his kitchen equipment.

"Yes, yes it was. I'm afraid he had a taste of Zoey's creation and it didn't suit his palate much." The man grinned at him with amusement and Elliot gave a little sigh. Moments later an ugly splattering sound came from the kitchen's bathroom which confirmed Wesley's little deduction.

"I really wish she would stop coddling him so much." Elliot groaned putting his paper down. "It's almost getting too friendly for my liking. It's always "Dren this, Dren that, Dren over here!"" He mimicked her with some venom in his voice. "It quite sickly to watch actually, she's like some sort of attention demanding child."

"Dren really is an entirely new person now Elliot, you could do with cutting him and Zoey some slack." Wesley replied good humouredly. "It's all because of her that he's opened up more to us."

"I do cut the, slack, I turn a blind eye to their little explorations don't I?" The teenaged genius replied sharply.

"Even so...It wouldn't hurt Dren to have a friendship with the Mew Mews-" Wesley began but hurriedly stopped as Zoey came rushing into the room.

"DREN! DREN!"

"Urgh..." Came a small voice and the bathroom door opened a crack to reveal a rather pale pointed face.

"Was it really that bad?" Zoey demanded tears pricking in her eyes, "I was going to make one for Mark too!"

"In all honesty Zoey, I'm amazed you actually managed to create something like this." The Cyniclon replied blandly, staring at her with his piercing eyes and her expression became slightly happier. "The creation really was something unique."

"I think that was a compliment..." Zoey mumbled and then brightened up, "Here- have the rest of it!" And she pushed the container into his slim hands. "I'm going to finish cleaning up before I go home!"

"A-Alright..." Dren replied uneasily, and glanced down at the black mess he held. "I don't have to eat this do I?" He asked Wesley who chortled and took it off him.

"No. No you don't." He laughed and scraped the failed pancake down the bin, leaving the empty container on the counter. "Just tell her it was delicious." He suggested cheekily and Dren nodded obediently.

"I'm glad to see Zoey isn't afraid of you anymore." Elliot commented dryly and the alien looked at him piercingly. "Those eyes of yours haven't been subtle when looking at something you find distasteful," The teenager stared back hard with his own ice blue ones. "But when you look at Zoey, either she doesn't notice it or your eyes become less aggressive. They soften up and lose their slitted appearance." Dren bared his fangs slightly and Elliot shrugged. "Just an observation." He added haughtily and picked up his paper again. Wesley gave him a sympathetic look and returned to his duties.

Dren walked slowly back to his room with a little scowl on his face. It was true what the blonde human had said. Zoey didn't look at him with the same expression as she did a few weeks ago. _"Something had changed between us. Perhaps this is "friendship"." _He felt closer to her than he ever did in all of his memories on Earth, it was something he treasured.

"There!" Zoey shouted and tugged his on arm like there was no tomorrow, she pulled him forcefully towards an enclosure and pointed furiously. They were now in a zoo as she eagerly suggested yesterday, and all the noise and smells was aggravating Dren slightly, as was the heat from the cap he had jammed on his head, with his ears tucked beneath it."It's a white rhino! They're really rare! I can't believe we get to see one!" And Dren gave the creature a glance over. It didn't look so impressive. Just a rather cumbersome beast sought for its horn, with a rather pungent aroma, and it made low bellowing noises that irritated his hearing.

"It doesn't look so exciting, and it's not even white Zoey." He mumbled and glanced around them. Her loud behaviour was attracting unnecessary attention, which was highly unnecessary seeing as he had a face that women would swoon over.

"Ey?" She gasped looking at him, "Don't say that! The zoo's a fun place, don't you like it?" And she waited with baited breath for his reply.

"It's not that I don't like it..." He began and glanced around again. "I just don't like the way people are staring at us." And he indicated with a quick look at the numerous individuals taking an interest in them.

"Oh...in that case, let's move on." Zoey said in a slightly abashed tone of voice. She ducked her head low and began moving rather inconspicuously as they left the rhino enclosure.

"Urgh, don't give me that sort of attitude." Dren groaned but with a smile on his face. "Look out school trip approaching." And he held her hand. He saw how her expression was suddenly a little red. They forged through the bustling mass of children, his hand keeping a tight grip on hers."It would be best if we weren't separated."

"O-okay." Was the quiet reply he managed to pick out from the hubbub of noise. "Are you embarrassed?" He asked after the stream of bodies had passed.

"Urh..." Was the rather gargled reply.

"That's not an answer Zoey." Dren asked and peered down at her face. Her human appearance had grown on him and he found an amusing sight how her face could change colour in accordance to their surroundings. "Look, you're red." He said pointedly with an impish grin.

"Ah! You don't need to say that!" Zoey shot at him quickly looking in another direction to avoid seeing his face.

"Well okay..." Dren replied with a sigh and let go of her hand. He stuffed them into his pockets and looked at the nearest zoo map.

"Sorry I dragged you out here...you really didn't want to come huh?" She said to him meekly and he chuckled.

"Perhaps we should go and see the gorillas...I'm quite interested in them." He said to her, flashing a brilliant smile down her way. And she bolted alert. "You shouldn't need to apologise to me Zoey, after all if I didn't want to come. You couldn't have made me." And he ruffled her hair playfully before tugging her by the wrist towards the gorillas. This sort of interaction between them was nothing too different, after all, holding hands to him didn't seem such an emotionally linked action. But to her, his touch was electric and sent jolts of excitement through her.

"_You couldn't have made me." _Sometimes Dren said things that haunted Zoey till late in the night. It was true her fear of him wasn't all gone, sometimes he'd react blankly and blunt about certain things. Sometimes a slice of personality would shine through and he'd laugh, joke, and tease her. But the real question was just how powerful was he?

"This thing is quite impressive." Dren muttered to Zoey and pointed towards a great silverback gorilla sat in a locked enclosure. Around them species of smaller apes were wandering freely having been deemed non-threatening by the zoo keepers, it was something similar to a walk in safari park.

"Tell me about...hey!" She exclaimed and looked down at her elbow. There was a small monkey, a howler monkey to be exact and its grubby hand was rummaging through her shoulder bag. "Get off!" She squealed tugging the bag out of its reach.

"Another primate." The Cyniclon chuckled lowly and crouched down to the floor so it could see the animal.

"Ah! Dren it's hissing at you!" Zoey cried out alarmed as the howler monkey revealed a score of sharp teeth amidst a threatening noise.

"It's alright, it knows I'm an animal. It just doesn't know what. Look at him, he's so scared." He replied to her coolly. And he opened his jaw widely revealing his own set of fangs that were something to shy at. Zoey let go of her bag to cover her ears as he gave a great roar of noise. It was a deep, deafening roar. A few seconds passed and Dren straightened up again, sweeping some hair out of his eyes. "There nothing to it." And he pulled her hands away from her ears gently.

"Just what did you think you were doing!" Zoey scolded him and whacked him on the arm lightly,

"I was just teaching the inferior creature who was boss." He said with a sigh and glanced down at the howler monkey, which was sat rigidly on the floor in mild shock holding the bag. "He'll be fine. Although I'd lose the lunch that you've got in your bag, it'll just attract more animals."

"Thank god there wasn't anyone around, but people would have heard! Let's go!" And she pulled furiously at his shirt and arm but nothing would make him budge. "What's the matter!" She finally asked, "It's not like you to be stubborn." Dren sniffed the air a few times.

"I knew it." And he pushed Zoey off him roughly. She grabbed her bag off the monkey and chased after him.

"Hey- what do you think you're doing?" She yelled and her jaw dropped as he catapulted over a fence, waded across a shallow moat separating the public and the main monkey island, and pulled himself onto the bank of the monkey enclosure.

"Hello...beast." He hissed with a smirk and tugged off his cap, dropping it to the ground carelessly. He looked ahead of him and saw the great size of the gorilla that was reared onto its hind legs with its great palms pressed against the wires of its cage. "You didn't notice me as a threat before but have you been waiting for a creature like me?"

"Are you insane!" Dren glanced behind and saw Zoey climbing out of the moat. Her legs and shorts were dripping in gunk from the moat as were his jeans. "You can't go around doing this stuff-" And he snapped his fingers. The frames that made up the gorilla's cage gave a low groan and creak, before falling into nothing but dust.

"He made me a challenge. What sort of male would I be if I didn't accept?" He told Zoey lowly and turned away so that he couldn't see the surprise etched so clearly on her face. She really wasn't good at hiding emotions.

"He didn't make a challenge!" She squealed indignantly.

The gorilla gave a loud hoot and pounded on its chest with its fists. "Hasn't he?" Dren asked her ironically. There was some baring of teeth from both oppositions and he heard Zoey take a few steps back. That was good. It meant he didn't have to restrain himself for her sake. "You might not be able to hear it but I can. This beasts wants to fight me for right of this territory. It appears to be a universal code of conduct between organisms and the fight for survival." And he grinned at Zoey, "And he's going to get the greatest fight of his life." Zoey balked a little at his fierce expression but he ignored it. The Cyniclon gave a howl and beat his own chest, playing at the gorillas own game but creating a much quieter rhythmic thump as he did. Above them heavy clouds lay low, their weight bearing down on the scene.

Then they lunged at each other, fangs bared, hands on each other's arms. One competitor was slender and hairless, and full of malice. The other was muscle bound, hairy and fuelled with the animalistic drive to protect ones territory. And now the heavens opened a down pour of rain on them. It soaked Dren's hair and made visibility low for him despite his keen senses. His claws hooked deep into the gorilla's sopping arm as the animal crushed its grip tightly on his biceps. The primate opened its great maw and canine teeth, baring them as did the Cyniclon as they fought in a power struggle. It was equal for an agonizing moment.

Eventually Dren felt his footing give way due to the slippery conditions, which was when the gorilla dealt him a great whack to his shoulder sending him sprawling to the ground. "Ack- damn beast had terrain on his side." He grunted to himself as he gathered his senses, his tongue tasted blood and he wondered where about it had come from. Already he could see the great animal lunging clumsily towards him.

"You can't take this on by yourself!" And he saw a soaked Zoey standing in front of him, she was shielding him with her frail, slim body.

"Are you insane?" He snapped at her, and felt a stir in him as he repeated what she had said moments ago. She was a female human and stood at less than a chance facing the gorilla.

"Come on Dren, drop the stupid challenge!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY." He snarled at her and he got back to his feet. The primate was lunging even closer, its dark eyes stuck fast to Dren, the main competitor.

"NO!"

"SO BE IT." Dren roared and zipped around her with an alarming speed. _"She won't be hurt. Not if I'm around. This is my fight, and mine alone."_ He barrelled straight into the surprised chest of the gorilla sending it flying a distance to land flat on its back with a wet thud on the drenched ground. He could hear cries of Zoey chasing after him and darted away from the animal's great flailing arms.

"Stop it- let's just go!" Zoey cried, and pulled weakly at his arm.

"No." Dren replied quietly. "I would see this animal dead before it'd harm a hair on you." His words stopped her momentarily. "And right now, he's ready to murder both of us." He hissed and presented his claws and fangs ready for another tussle. "And I'm ready to murder him." He tensed his muscled body, the torrential rain plastered his clothes to his skin and made his movement heavier. A disadvantage. _"Another nuisance in this day."_

His words were cold and angry. He was livid and it scared her. She clenched her eyes tight and yelled at him. How could this guy who so tenderly sat beside her, listening to her, seducing her with those eyes and his soft touch have turned to the ravenous monster baring his fangs.

"Stop it! You're not an animal!" Zoey screamed at him and pushed him roughly. He stared at her in surprise. Another emotional outburst. This was only meant to be a male dominated fight but this bothersome female had gotten herself far too attached, as usual.

"I am a creature." He replied stiffly, "And he made me a challenge. It'd be dishonourable of me to reject it, my pride would be wounded and I wouldn't be fit to face another animal as its superior male."

"You're not a creature!"

"Well what would you call me then!" He rounded on her angrily with a hiss. His pupils were jet black slits and he snarled at her with a fierce expression, wet locks of his hair were strewn messily over his face. He was feral, angry and his humanoid side distorted as he look at her with bared Alien fangs. Zoey seemed a little shocked and she gave herself a rough shake after a quiet moment.

"I'd call you Dren..." She said softly and approached him slowly. His expression became a little less stress as her words washed over him, soothing the tension within. "You don't have to be a superior male, you just have to be yourself."

"Myself?" He hissed distantly. The answer was not what he had expected. Elliot had always said he was a Cyniclon, an Alien, a creature. But he was raised, so to speak, in the ways of human culture. "What am I Zoey?" He asked her quietly, and as his anger was sapped away the pounding of the ground caught his attention. The great primate was charging blindly at them, intent on only rashly charging with its head lowered. She gave no reply and Dren gave an amused chuckle, "Let's move Zoey. This place is no fun." Another attitude switch. She seemed intent on ruining his Cyniclonic behaviour...but he didn't mind so much if it made her life a little easier.

"Right." Zoey replied with relief, albeit a little confusion at the change in attitude, and they both made for the moat, though at different speeds. Dren made it across the grassy plain easily and stopped at the moat's edge to wait for her to catch up. His ears twitched as they heard the sound of a cry above the pattering of rain and he whipped around to survey the scene.

That troublesome gorilla had caught Zoey's bag and they were both unwilling to let it go. "Get away!" She felt fear rivet through her as the three hundred pound gorilla roared at her face in a reply, it raised a great arm about to swat her away from the bag he held. But where was Dren?

Dren watched the scene with amusement, a lone teenager fighting with all her might against the heavy primate over a bag. The gorilla raised its hand threatening and he growled. Zoey shut her eyes tight and braced herself for the lethal impact.

"Let it go." Dren asked the primate in a flat tone. "I got bored of our fight but that doesn't mean stealing is right." And the simian gave a yelp of pain as he dug his claws deep into the primate's tender wrist. Blood spurted out gruesomely from the force, spattering onto Zoey's face and down the Cyniclon's arm.

The animal howled in rage and bolted away once Dren had let his grip loosen. He turned round to face Zoey and sighed. "Didn't I say I wouldn't let that beast hurt you?" And he licked some blood off his finger, it tasted foul. "I always wondered what blood tasted like." He mused looking at his soiled arm. "Look, you've got some on you." And he reached out a thumb and wiped it off her face softly. The rain let off slightly now and drizzled down on them gloomily.

She still hadn't said a word and he surmised it was because of shock. "Let's go then." He said softly and picked her up, tucking one arm under her arms, and another under the crook of her legs. He pressed her close to his chest, and she could feel his warmth through his cold clothes and he carried out of the zoo and while on the way back, she finally found her voice.

"Thank you." She said quietly, and he gave a little growl of laughter.

"There'd be no need to thank me if you hadn't interfered." And she felt slightly abashed.

"You didn't need to protect me."

"You weren't about to protect yourself." He replied flatly and she scowled at him.

"I am a Mew Mew though."

"I never said you weren't. I know you can do it though." Dren laughed and looked down at her with a sweet smile. "Whatever the reason why you didn't protect yourself...even though I know you could have...I don't mind."

"Huh?" And he felt her shift in his arms so that she looked up at him.

"I don't mind protecting you." He finished quietly and she shifted her gaze back down to his shirt. Once they were a distance away from the zoo, they flagged down a taxi to take them back to the cafe.

She knew the reason she didn't defend herself was because she knew Dren would do it for her. She was never really in any mortal danger as long as he was around. It was the result of her hard earned friendship with him and she felt perversely pleased seeing how he was willing to fight for her. But she could never say it aloud to him, it'd be too shocking an admission.

"I don't even need the records of Mini Mew to know what the hell happened there!" Elliot roared and slammed the remote down on the table. Zoey shifted nervously under his piercing gaze whilst Dren stared at him with a slightly vacant expression. "LOOK! LOOK AT THIS!" Elliot demanded prodding the fifty inch tv screen in his room. And on the evening news was a very blurry recording of Dren's fight.

"-the culprit hasn't been identified but police are suspecting a young man of slim build that is suspected to be a Caucasian that was assisted by a young Japanese woman. The zoo keepers are all rather distraught at the damage of their silver back gorilla but vets assure us that the injury will not be life threatening, however -" And Elliot switched it off with a stormy disposition.

"Because of this! Our entire mission is this close to being jeopardized!" He ranted and gripped his hair in anger as Dren merely blinked at him. "Now me and Wesley have to hack into the tv systems and delete that recording for good – but millions of people will already have seen it! Zoey why didn't you stop him!"

"I-"

"No! Not good enough! Don't you dare try and say you tried! You didn't transform and subdue him- and all of this has caused so much trouble!" He paused for breath for his beet root red face and Dren seized the chance.

"Well, there's not much we can do now Elliot." He told him calmly with a broad grin which sent Zoey giggling and provoked the teen even more.

"You keep that smart mouth of yours shut! Get out of my sight and don't you dare step outside of this cafe without my permission!" He seethed and the Cyniclon stuck the tip of his tongue out at him before hastily retreating out of the room as Elliot picked up the remote. Possibly to throw at him.

"I don't think I've ever seen Elliot so angry." Zoey sighed as she shut the door where the noise of him ranting could still be heard.

"Don't think too much of it." Dren answered simply and yawned showing off his lean body as he stretched.

"Hmm...But Dren I really do wish you would stop getting yourself in these situations..." She mumbled and scuffed her shoe on the floor. He cracked open a lazy eye and looked at her, "I mean last time at the amusement park you managed to climb onto the tracks of a roller coaster, and then in the shopping mall you managed to get us both nearly arrested..."

The Cyniclon looked at her curiously. He finished stretching and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry..." He said and scratched his hair awkwardly. "I just didn't know the outside world was so fun. All I ever knew was how to bake cakes from day one and that was it."

"I know but Dren-" Zoey interrupted as she saw how apologetic he looked, even his ears had drooped a little.

"But Zoey, it was really fun. And I should have behaved a little better." He gave a nervous laugh and glanced at her, "I feel quite bad for dragging you into my fight. You shouldn't have got involved."

"You shouldn't have got involved in the first place." She laughed and punched his arm playfully. "And don't worry that gorilla couldn't have hurt me anyway."

"That's not true." Dren said solemnly cutting her happy disposition short. "Everything about that gorilla was stronger than you. Save for sheer human intelligence, but he could have easily killed you." She stayed silent and he continued. "You can't forget that you're just a human. If I break my neck, I'll probably survive through magic, but if you break your neck you're as dead as a dodo."

"Though clichés of yours are really coming along aren't they?" Zoey commented flatly and he gave a little smirk.

"Most importantly Zoey, I just don't want you hurt." He said and with a brilliant smile and she returned it, and rushed into him where she hugged him tightly. "You're very special to me."

"Dren, you might just be one of the nicest friends I've ever had." She replied and they embraced out of habit. Although Dren could feel his smile wavering a little. It wasn't just friendship he thought of her, it was a desire for her company. A selfish desire for her attention and affection. But he couldn't tell her that, she'd just call him a monster. So instead he showed her.

He held her closer to him and tilted her head to his. She got the chance to stare deep into his amber eyes before they closed and he kissed her. Her cat ears and tail popped out with a little noise but she automatically closed her eyes and unconsciously parted her lips, he pushed her gently against the wall, pinning her motionless with his kiss. Claiming his dominance on a primal level. He tasted the wetness of her tongue as they clashed before sidling beside each other, entering a sweet moment of intimacy with each other. His kiss was hot, primal, passionate and full of lust. It was so much more electrifying than what she imagined Mark's kiss to be...Mark. She was meant to save her first kiss for him. But here she was rubbing tongues roughly with the Cyniclon. She felt a rush of twisted betrayal settle in her gut and he gave a low growl in his throat, she felt his tongue vibrate against hers, and she withdrew from him.

"What's the matter?" Dren purred, and nuzzled his nose to her cheek which was flushed a hot red. He greatly savoured their contact and appreciated just how warm...and soft she was to touch, and in his chest he could feel the warm emotions of sheer desire building within him, he wanted to touch her even more. It was primal and all based on an instinctual level.

"It's...nothing." She said breathlessly and gave a small giggle. "It just tickled when you growled."

"Ah...I'm sorry. I growl when-"

"When you're happy or pleased." Zoey finished and slowly let go of him. She hadn't realised how tight she'd gripped the back of his shirt till she felt the blood rush back into her hands. Dren sniffed her lightly. She smelt of embarrassment and he placed his hands on her waist, gaining a little purchase on his hold on her. He'd hate it if she bolted from his affections. It'd be unforgivable.

"You already know that much about me?" He laughed and gave her a gentle lick on the cheek. "Well then I suppose we should go and – is there a problem Zoey?" He'd noticed a bristle of hairs all over her body. The fur on her ears and tail were standing on end.

"Is...there...is..." She stammered at him and stared at him with an innocence that only served to entice him even more.

"There's what?" He asked her and cocked his head slightly.

"You're...touching me below." She finished lamely and resisted the urge to look down. Dren moved away from her and looked down, she followed his line of sight.

"It appears that I am." He said flatly. From his crotch there was a great bulge that had been somewhat pressed against Zoey's body, betraying his desire to her. "I felt that shift but thought nothing of it. How odd. I wonder what it does besides excrete urine, I still don't know. I need to gather more information." And his hands left her waist to fiddle with the fly of his jeans.

"AH!" Zoey cried aloud and grabbed his forearms. "No-no- you don't need to inspect it! I gotta go!" And she bolted away. Leaving nothing but the shadow of her image.

"Zoey! I don't know what to do with it! How do I make it stop?" He howled out after her and scowled a little. Clearly his own anatomy was still a mystery. He heard a door swing open with a bang and he turned around to see the source of noise.

And the teen genius caught sight of the prominent bulge. "I do not need to see this." Elliot groaned, and rolled his eyes whilst simultaneously slamming the door shut.

"But I don't know what to do with it!" Dren told him with a whine in his voice and hammered on the door with a fist, accidentally splitting the wood slightly through his force.

"Go to your room and do whatever it is that needs to be done!" Was the sharp reply. Dren was thoroughly confused but did as he was told and returned to his room, where he pulled off his jeans and boxers to inspect this newly awakened part of anatomy.

"Hm. It appears to be deflating." He said to himself, "And now it's back to normal...how odd. I'll have to ask Wesley about this."


	9. Knowledge is oh so tempting

Zoey didn't speak to Dren for an entire week, which was good for both of them after Wesley had thoroughly explained the detailed "facts of life" and sent a rivet of embarrassment through the Cyniclon. Another new emotion to him, although slightly unpleasant. His separation from her allowed them both to get their line of thinking straight. He had felt deeply embarrassed after it appeared he had broken the human social etiquette of behaviour. He had looked at her rather coyly at first but now had regaining a spark of mischief in his eyes. But if anything from getting over the situation, Zoey was now cornered in her own mind.

It was a vicious choice.

She was torn between undying love for Mark and at the fiery new relationship with Dren. One was the best disciple of kendo, he was the charming prince at her school who coincidentally happened to be the love of her life. He had a sweet face, soft eyes and a kind disposition to match a man of her dreams. The other was an alien, wielding great magic in his blood, fangs that nicked her skin, a beautiful face, repeatedly tried to murder her and now had lost the occasionally urge to destroy her. But he was so strong and primal...They were almost complete contrasts. _"Is there any way out of this?"_ She thought to herself.

"So Zoey, seems like I finally caught up to you." Dren said breezily and laughed as she bolted away, suddenly aware of her surroundings, or rather who was around her. She attempted to bolt if he hadn't already grabbed onto her arms powerfully. She soon gave up trying to break his grip and faced him with a sigh, as he let go of her arm.

"So how have you been?" She asked tentatively, finally locking eyes with him after the incidence.

"Not so bad. I've been getting a slight case of boredom though. Being stuck in here for a week tends to do that." He said and swept some hair out of his face. "I was hoping we could go the park after work. It's getting pretty quiet now and I could use the fresh air."

"Elliot might get mad..." She mumbled and glanced over at the teen who was at his usual spot sipping tea with the newspaper held in one hand. Dren sniffled a little, that teenager always gave him an uneasy feeling, as if he were always watching.

"Oh come on..." Dren purred and leaned so she could stare directly into his eyes. "Why does he have to know anyway?" And he gave her a little wink. That was all that was needed to convince her. He was so subtly seductive. It was just a harmless little trip to the park, where they'd be alone...surely Mark and Elliot won't mind. Why did they have to know anyway? She hadn't said a word to Mark about Dren's advances...it'd only upset him. But she did have a few things to say to Dren now that she'd made her mind up and broken free of the choices.

"Hurry up." Dren hissed and tugged her hand impatiently.

"We're already here!" Zoey groaned, her aching limbs from work forcing her to a slow walk as they crossed the grassy field in the park. "Thank god there's no one..." She mumbled and hurriedly let go of Dren's hand. He had insisted that they "join forces" in a bid to escape Elliot's clutches without becoming separated. And she obliged.

"Alone at last." Dren sighed and flopped down on his back. He smelt the freshly cut grass and inhaled deeply.

"Yeah..." Zoey said quietly, almost unenthusiastically. "Dren..." Her words caught in her throat, and her heart pulled in all directions. It was painfully pulling as if it didn't want to be here, and didn't want to hear what she was about to say.

"Hmm?" The Cyniclon opened and eye and watched her lazily as she sat down beside him, with her knees drawn up close.

"I've been meaning to tell you that...we can't, you can't kiss me anymore. We can't kiss." She blurted out and felt her throat tighten as Dren sat up slightly. She didn't noticed his hands clench the life out of the grass he gripped next to him. The lush, green stalks had turned to a jet black.

"Why is that?" He asked her, feigning indifference. Of course he already knew. His superior intellect had already sifted through their situation and the various outcomes through the use of algorithms and pure common sense. He knew where he stood with Zoey, between her and Mark. An unfavourable position to be in, seeing as he was never the first in line for her.

"Because..." And she paused. Not daring to look at him. A cold silence fell over the pair. The blood in his ears were throbbing loudly but not loud enough to mask the sound of their hearts as they each pumped rhythmically with an increasing tempo. The sound of the valves, opening and closing as life flowed through them, but it was pointless now... she didn't want him. And his heart strings contracted with a stab of pain. Why did she have to cause him such pain?

Dren flicked his ears as a cackle of laugh broke the silence, birds fluttered into the air with squawks of alarm, he snapped his head up with a throaty growl and fangs protuding. He leapt to his feet, the hairs on his neck stood on end and bristled with caution. Zoey sat up with an angry look. "I know that laugh!" She said accusingly.

And within the next second, Sardon and Tarb had materialized in the air a distance away from them. The smaller cyniclon was squealing with laughter, hugging his stomach as he did whereas Sardon merely smirked smartly at Dren. "This is a rather amusing turn of events." He said slowly, his eyes darting all over the Cyniclon below them. _Assessing_ the danger of him Dren realised.

"You can say that again!" Tarb burst out and wiped tears of laughter away from his eyes. "Look at him! In his _adult_ form! BWHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS HYSTERICAL!"

"And just what is so funny!" Dren snarled at the small figure baring his elongated fangs aggressively. His hands were balled into fists and the magic in his blood was beginning to glow that same ethereal light as it had previously done on occasions. The sheer rudeness of this creature was grating on his nerves annoyingly.

"That you, Dren, have matured into a full magic weaver. And with markings too." Sardon commented dryly, raising an eyebrow as the Cyniclon began to glow brightly. "Most unusual and irregular."

"What do you want? You pretend to know me but why don't I know you?" He snapped back at them. He became vaguely aware of Zoey shifting nervously beside him but for now the smaller figured ceased his squealing and flew down closer to him. Dren growled lowly when Tarb sniffed lightly at him and recoiled with a hiss baring his own smaller fangs . Likewise Dren sniffed him lightly and caught the scent of power, that made him widen his eyes in amazement. Such a rich bank of power, infinite pools of magic and strength, if he were that powerful, anything could be possible if only he could tap into it...

"Sardon, he smells of tainted magic!" He shouted back to the larger alien above them. The alien's brow creased in concern and he drifted down to their level. "It's no wonder, he's acting so funny." Tarb added scathingly.

"You're right Tarb, he is stinking of it." He said wrinkling his nose up, "And of humans." He added witheringly looking at Zoey who scowled at him.

"Tainted magic? What? I don't understand." He said with a tone of defeat and sniffed lightly, he could smell nothing different. Just his own scent. These two individuals were stronger than him it appeared, especially as his grasp of magic was not strong and their knowledge may prove to be to his advantage. "Tell me what you mean." He asked lowly and pinned his ears down as a sign of submission.

"Pah. Such magics cannot be just told to you Dren. It takes discipline and a learning mind." Sardon told him flatly. The body language was not missed by the Cyniclon and smiled inwardly.

"Then I want to learn." He replied, he head Zoey give a little gasp and her heart rate increased a fraction, the pounding was so great it threatened to give him a headache.

"Ah hah! You want to learn! That's a joke!" Tarb giggled and did a somersault in the air. "And here I thought we'd find you in a bag as severed limbs after the humans had finished dissecting you!"

"Dissecting?" Dren repeated blankly and looked over at Zoey who was now chewing her lip in frustration. "What does he mean? I don't understand." He felt his inexperience of this world was crippling him dangerously. _"I am virtually useless."_

"What we mean is that these humans kept you as their pet, their slave...probably experimented on you gruesomely. And now they've turned your rightful inheritance of magic into your own enemy, warping your memory and body. Your tainted magic is acting as a plug to your channel of power." Sardon told him with a twisted smile.

"That's enough!" Zoey shouted and transformed into her Mew Mew form. "Shut up and leave us alone! Get back to the stinking library!" She shouted firing her strawberry bell attack at them warningly. "He's not going to listen to anymore of these lies!"

"Very well human." Sardon said with a hollow laugh as he batted away one of her attacks easily with his fan. "But just take a look at what he is now. It's as clear as day. You can't keep his mind caged forever." He told her menacingly and both Cyniclons faded from view. Dren's gaze lingered hungrily on the space where they were.

"They knew me, they were like me..." He breathed out and looked over at Zoey. She was looking incredibly worried at him, which he found odd. Normally her transformation fascinated him but right now, she did not interest him. "What did he mean caged? Is there something wrong?" He asked her, "Should I not have met them?"

"Err...I...no. They were bad Cyniclons. They want to take over my world and destroy it..." She muttered lowly and averted her gaze from him. "Everything they said was a lie." She told him firmly but he wrinkled up his nose slightly.

"You're not telling me everything Zoey." He said blandly and she gave a noise of frustration.

"Dren they're bad aliens! You shouldn't ever go back to them!" She told him sharply and he looked slightly taken aback.

"You mean I was part of them?" He asked her and looked down at his palms fading with light. They no longer ran with pure white magic but felt dirty, as if he was a criminal dusting his palms of murder and washing away the blood. _"How could I have ever wanted to possess this world? A world full of life, beauty and brutal harmony between living entities. Not to mention this is Zoey's home planet and I am a guest. Guest's don't destroy hosts..." _ He thought to himself hollowly. _"Only destructive parasites do that."_

"No...I mean yes but no! I don't know what to tell you and what not to tell you!" She said exasperatedly and put her hands on her head in annoyance. "I wish Elliot was here, he'd make sure I didn't do anything stupid."

"You're not going to do anything stupid. Just tell me everything, the truth this time." He said to her with an edge to his voice.

"No I-I can't do it, Elliot would murder me..."

"Don't let him control you, just tell me what there is to know." Dren whispered softly, his eyes flickered slightly and he knew he was trying to twist her mind with minute specks of magic to loosen her tongue. But the Mew Mew's mind was impregnable and she shook her head rapidly to clear her mind. He scowled in disapproval at his failure, "It's alright." And he added as an afterthought, "I'll protect you." And put an arm around her. But she batted it away quickly with a low hiss,

"I can protect myself!" She yelled at him.

"But Zoey you can't." He said rather bluntly and this only stoked her annoyance.

"I can! And If I can't then Mark will – I don't need your constant protecting!" She snarled. It startled him to see her disposition switch like so but he said nothing and dropped his arm back down to his side. Female temperaments were rather unpredictable. "Let's go home..." She took him by the arm tentatively and led him back to the cafe where she said her goodbyes hurriedly. Without a hug.

Dren saw her hug herself as she walked off and heard her mutter from a distance, "Look at what he is now...Who does he think he is?...My Cyniclon guardian? No, that can't be right..."

"She does prove an adequate point. What exactly am I? And why am I here...perhaps she does not have these answers anymore. She certainly doesn't want my company anymore..." He said slowly and walked into the cafe. There he found Wesley and Elliot filtering through a mound of rubbish they'd pulled up from the lab.

"Hi there Dren." Wesley greeted him warmly and gave a little sneeze from the dust. Elliot merely glanced up at him before returning to rummage. He held up a pink fluffy thing and Wesley gave a snort of amusement.

"I'm really surprised he's still intact." He said poking the object curiously.

"Leave him under some light, it'll recharge his battery, assuming everything else is functioning." Elliot said passing the object to him. He then fished up a mound of paper coated in concrete dust.

"Dren if you're not doing anything I'd appreciate it if you didn't just stare at me, doing all the work." Elliot told the Cyniclon sharply and the alien approached him slowly.

"I met two more of my kind today." He told the human who snapped his attention towards him. Accompanied with a deep frown.

"Tarb and Sardon?" Dren could feel a snarl rising in his throat. This cocky human was an irritation with his sharp words and vast knowledge, over the weeks here the human had slowly grated along his nerves. How he longed to hear this creatures cries of helplessness, and the cocky intelligence drain from him...

"Yes, I suppose it must have been. One small, the other tall."

"Urgh I knew they'd seek you out eventually. And let me guess, bonehead Zoey thought it'd be a good idea to take you out without me watching over." Elliot sighed with a frown.

"She's not a bonehead." Dren replied sharply and bared his fangs at him slightly. The human stared evenly back at him and shrugged.

"Say what you want, as long as you came back then I'm fine with it." He told Dren sharply and the alien gave him a look of indifference. "Don't go looking for them, and if they approach you again, run. Run as fast as you can back here." Dren blinked once to acknowledge this and Elliot stared back with a steely gaze. Wesley watched this exchange with interest before a loud robotic squeak caught his attention.

"Hey you two, look over here! Mini Mews coming round now." The three of them crowded around the window ledge where the bionic creature was sat on.

"Danger...D...a...nger..." It cried out weakly, its eyes blinking slowly.

"Thank god it's alright." Wesley said gladly and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Here..." Elliot muttered and grabbed Mini Mew. He popped open the back of it and pulled out it's memory card before snapping it's fluffy lid back in. " We should be able to find out if it recorded anything. Take a long rest Mini Mew, I'll be back in a few minutes."

"And off he goes..." The chef said with a small groan and rubbed his neck, "Perhaps you should go to your room and rest Dren if you're not hungry, we've got another working day tomorrow."

"Yes Wesley." The Cyniclon replied. _"This human is almost a contrast to the other blonde one..."_ he thought to himself, _"the diversity of humans appears endless. Contrasts between me and them exist also, driving a deep rift between us...there is still so much I don't know..."_

"Is something wrong?" Wesley prompted him seeing the alien stare into the distance.

"Well...Zoey said this to me..." He began quietly and shifted his footing slightly. A few minutes later he was standing outside his door, about to enter his room. Wesley had proved sympathetic to his confusion at the teenager's outburst but had remained tight lipped on any advice, whilst Dren failed to mention his desire for knowledge.

"Dren." The alien turned around. Behind him was the blonde human with a somewhat grim expression. "You don't look very happy."

"How very observant of you." Dren replied back dryly. The human's mouth twitched into a smirk.

"You're humour has definitely developed." He replied and walked a little closer. "I thought you'd be interested in seeing the museum tomorrow with me."

"Is that not the building of history and science in town?" He replied suspiciously. And Elliot nodded approvingly,

"Yes it is, I was thinking of taking Zoey with us." He said and the Cyniclon nodded softly, "Perhaps it'll pique your interest in humans. As opposed to an interest in Cyniclons." He turned back to his room when the alien did nothing but look at him with a blank expression.

"Perhaps it will. But I find that my own species is far more interesting..." He said lowly with a fanged smile and entered his own room. Rummaging through books donated by Elliot and Wesley he found one showing the map of the city, quickly pinpointing the library, that Zoey had accidentally told him, "Get back to the stinking library!", and he leapt out of his window with a curious mind.

"Now what am I meant to do?" Dren muttered as he pressed his nose against the door of the library. It was shut for the day and there wasn't even a guard on duty, how unprofessional of the council. "Unek." He hissed and the various locks shifted out of position allowing him to open the door and enter.

"So...you came back." Sardon commented and appeared in front of the startled alien, he was accompanied by the small Cyniclon.

"I did...but only to learn more about myself." Dren told them warily, he could feel his fear wavering into the air as the small one grew an even broader grin. And he knew these beings could smell it as easily as he could.

"Poor, poor Dren..." He snickered, "You don't know anything...come back to us as our servant and we'll teach you everything we know!" He was sorely tempted, these individuals seemed so sure...so sure of everything, from their place in the universe to their mission on Earth. Whereas he felt that he had no purpose or destiny right now. Not even Zoey really wanted him anymore.

"Tarb, don't tease him like that. He'll snap off your ears with his jaws when he gets his memory back." Sardon said with the faintest flicker of a smile. He pointed his fan straight at Dren's forehead.

"What are you going to do?" Dren hissed, his feet rooted to the floor though he leant back slightly.

"You'll thank me later." Was the flat reply and a burning sensation shot through his head, knocking all of his senses out. His fading vision showed only the silhouettes of the two Aliens but his mind thought of nothing but Zoey.


	10. Realising what you had after it's gone

"Girls, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Wesley said slowly as he gave out butterscotch mousse with strawberries. It was always good to soften them up with dessert first.

"Great...how much better can this day get?" Renee said dolefully as she ate the sweet pudding gratefully.

"A lot worse..." Kikki groaned as she saw Elliot pull down the slideshow board and start clicking on his laptop furiously. "He's got the power points up again."

"Stop complaining and listen up." The blonde hair teenager retorted angrily. "I've no mood for this useless chatter." He clicked his laptop once and they saw an image of Dren. But this wasn't sexy, smoking hot Dren. This was the scrawny, lanky alien that was a pest to their world. "This is the footage Mini Mew recorded before, the lab pretty much exploded."

"Where's Mini Mew now?" Corina asked and he twitched an eyebrow in impatience.

"He's down in the lab recovering, but the most important thing today is that-"

"Where's Dren today?"Bridget asked him softly and the other murmured in agreement.

"If someone will let me finish!" Elliot snapped at them all, and he pointed to the slide show. "Dren here is undergoing his transformation. Watch closely...there! Did you all see that!" He demanded viciously and the Mew Mews team recoiled slightly. The whites of his eyes were bulging slightly, and the bags under his eyes were sagging darkly and his hair was dishevelled beyond belief.

"No..." Was the quiet collective reply.

"Elliot lay off them a minute and maybe then they can focus on your video as opposed to you snapping at them." Wesley replied good naturedly with a smile. "Not to mention you look rather scary."

"Fine." Was the stroppy reply. "Look again, it's for a split second. Over there in that corner." An dhe pointed at the board.

"I don't see it." Kikki said aloud. But Zoey did. It was an image of a man.

"Now look at where that beam of light was projected. If I magnify that area of light..." Elliot muttered to himself. And a few moment later those beams of light were broken down into pixels, and within those pixels were minute images of _stuff_. There were houses, human children, trees, landscape...it was all there in those crystals of light. "Do you see how this is so amazing?" He demanded his audience and they feebly shook their heads.

"Take a break Elliot, you've been up all night." Wesley said with a sigh as the blonde genius rested his forehead on his laptop.

"What you just saw was pure magic from Dren's body, what this shows is possibly crystallized images of Dren's past manifested through his power. A memory leakage if you will. This suggests the Cyniclon race developed from a race of humans on a distant planet, wherever they were from and that image of the man, could very well be Dren's personal transformation into a human. Another hypothesis is that the raw Fluorine of our planet ignited his own ancestral roots, showing us all these images." The chef explained gently and a little "Oh..." of understanding spread across the group.

"So?" Corina asked him, "He's possibly part human, what's the bad news then?"

"Well...It appears that Dren's gone back to the Cyniclons, apparently the temptation of a museum visit with Zoey wasn't strong enough. He must not have liked living here as much as we thought." Wesley muttered quietly.

"Thanks to Zoey." Elliot added unhelpfully. "Dren told Wesley all about how Zoey didn't need him." He added scathingly.

"WHAT!" Was the united response. An almighty clamour erupted from all directions from the team, Zoey desperately defending her involvement and the others demanding and accusing ruthlessly. It forced Elliot to retreat outside, leaving the charming chef to calm them down. After a few sundaes and slices of cake, the girls finally sat down to take a deep, calming breath whilst Elliot slunk back in.

"He's gone." Renee said almost sadly, "No more smoking hot Dren to distract us all from work." She added quietly.

"Nope." Corina agreed. "Thanks Zoey for getting rid of the only piece of eye candy in here."

"Oh shush Corina! You stare at Elliot and Wesley long enough every day!" Kikki said cheekily and the blue haired girl gave her a sharp look coupled with a blush on her face.

"Okay girls, not having Dren to look at is an issue, but the even bigger problem is that we don't know what'll happen the next time we see him. Is he going to be returned to the same looking Cyniclon as this?" Elliot said and clicked his laptop to bring up the teenaged Dren, "Or this?" And it was a smoking hot picture of adult Dren standing in a ruined lab. His lower half concealed with a thick band of dust.

"Can we have that for our laptop wallpaper?" Renee asked innocently and Elliot face palmed with a very quiet reply of "Yes".

"Sweeeet." Was the collective reply accompanied with grins.

"Don't you see the gravity of the situation!" Elliot snapped to them, "Tarb and Sardon could transform him into a powerful Cyniclon adult, assuming his magic has increased with age, and by then it'd be too late for any of us to stop him. And we'd have to call in another team of Mew Mews, which probably don't exist!"

"So is there anything we can do?" Zoey asked him tentatively as the blonde teen held his head in his hands.

"No." Was the gruff reply and he looked up at her, "There's nothing we can do." He added grimly.

"Except eat sundaes and have a good rest." Wesley interrupted and popped a lovely caramel sundae in front of Elliot. "We just need to be at our best now girls, so go rest and I'm sure the Cyniclons will be up sometime." His attempt to defuse the situation was successful and the tension decreased slightly between Elliot and the team. "When we see Dren, we'll be able to assess the situation more and act accordingly."

"Yes Wesley." Was the chorused reply and the group stood up and began to leave the lab.

"Here's Mini Mew back Zoey." Elliot said tiredly. And he threw the pink object towards her where she caught it easily.

"Thanks El." She muttered and toyed with the ears of Mini Mew who cooed with happiness as she returned to the cafe. "It's all my fault." She whispered sadly.

A few weeks had passed and many people were used to Dren's absence but Zoey was still staring at the floor. She dragged her feet when she moved, all the way to the museum where she'd arranged to meet Mark which gave her a foul taste in her mouth. The Cyniclon was resting heavy on her mind, and Renee did nothing to help by constantly reminding her of her guilt. "What's up with you?" She looked up and found herself staring into the puzzled expression of Mark.

"H-Hi..." She muttered attempting a weak smile. But that smile never made it to her face, instead a great big wail came from her and tears poured down her face. It'd been contained for such a long time, and burst out in a flood of emotion. _"I wish Dren were here." _The back of her mind whimpered sadly, which only added to her bawling.

"Woah Zoey, are you alright?" Mark asked her dumbly as she threw herself onto his chest, hugging him tightly. People were starting to stare at the commotion and he hugged her tightly, resting his chin on her head. "It's alright...come on, we'll sit down and you can tell me all about it."

She allowed herself to be led towards a bench and he gently wiped away her tears and her streaming nose with a pocket tissue. "Whatever it is Zoey, we can work through this." He said softly and held his hands over hers. "I'm here for you."

"_Dren would have been here too." _And her breath kept catching in her chest with every passing moment she thought of Dren. The way his smooth skin felt against hers when they brushed hands together... the loss of him was too hard to accept..."It's-it's-it's..." She mumbled between sobs, "it's Dren's brother."

"Oh? What about him?" Mark asked quietly, his expression creased in confusion. As she hid her expression in his chest.

"H-He's dead." Zoey blurted out. Instantly thinking it was a highly inappropriate comment, but still there was no easy way to go about explaining this without revealing too much.

"Oh no..." Mark said softly and pulled her close to his chest. "What happened?"

"He...got involved with the wrong gang and I-I didn't stop him, I didn't do- I could have stopped him!" She cried in a thin voice. It was a vague truth and avoided any more details of her involvement. "I just don't know what to do..." She mumbled and composed herself slightly. "I want him back."

"There's nothing you can do...it wasn't your fault either." Mark said to her quietly.

"I feel so horrible...If only I could have gotten to him...if he listened..." She whimpered and the rest of her words were drowned into the fabric of his chest. Mark procured more tissues and held her tightly for the next few moments.

"You shouldn't blame yourself." Mark murmured after a while. "Here...I'll make you feel better..." He embraced her tightly, his head resting against hers. They were so close...she'd waited for this moment for a lifetime, but right now it felt emptier than the palms of her hand which Dren used to hold.

She tilted her chin up to him and he leant forwards. It was inevitable. Their soft lips pressed against each other, Zoey could taste her own salty tears and the hot wetness of his tongue as it slipped into her mouth drawing them even closer and the kiss deeper. It was exactly as she'd imagined his kisses to be soft, loving and princely. It was beautiful. He was beautiful. His touch was warm and loving, full of care, comfort and gentility. Her second kiss within weeks. It was too fast...first Dren and now Mark was trying to claim her lips. But Dren was gone...

Her body was shaking when he parted and her face a cherry red. "Let's go home Zoey, at any rate...you've stopped crying." Mark laughed and Zoey gave a weak, hollow laugh letting him lead the way. And he stood up, taking the willing girl with him, and he led her back home.

A distance away, Dren thumped his fist against the trunk of a tree, sending deep rivets and cracks across its surface. His face scowled and his eyes burned a hole of hatred and envy in Mark's skull as he watched them. Once they were out of sight, he simply faded from view. Meanwhile Zoey entered her house and waved goodbye to Mark shakily.

"Honey, there's some package for you. I've left it in your room." Her mother called out from the living room.

"Thanks mum." Zoey replied quietly and trudged up the stairs slowly. She looked and felt drained of all energy. The emotional output from before was rather taxing, what stunned her mind even more was Mark...and his kiss. It nothing like Dren's. The Alien had been forceful, masculine, and left a lingering feel on her lips like sweet poison, tempting her towards him, begging her to crave him. Whereas Mark had just...given her a soft kiss. She sat on the bed, her cheeks flushed with emotion and she noticed a small object wrapped in brown paper sat on the pillow.

It had "Zoey" scrawled across the side in black charcoal, there was no address or recipient left for her. She tore it open with curiosity and there was a single apple left in the palm of her hand. It was a single red, ripe apple and nothing more.

"That's odd...Who'd bother wrapping me up an apple?..." She whispered. And his ears picked them up easily. He allowed himself a smile to stretch over his lips and he fixated his eyes hungrily on her face. "Maybe...It was...no...it couldn't have been. Why would Dren send me an apple? I thought he'd gone with the Cyniclons, he can't do these things anymore. Maybe it's a warning..." And she gave the apple a good looking over checking it for signs of danger.

"Or maybe he's just sending mixed messages." Dren suggested under his breath with a fanged grin.

The next afternoon Zoey paused in the kitchen as Elliot caught her eye. He'd just disappeared down the lab with an armful of machinery and wires without sparing her a second glance, "So what's he doing down there?" She asked Wesley quietly.

"Not so sure, at a guess I assume he's trying to re build his lab and organise what little data he has on Dren." Wesley told her with a smile, "He was more than a bit upset at losing him. Sobbing hysterically into his science papers as it were."

"I think we all were more than upset." Bridget joined in softly as she picked up plates of pie. "It's the thought of fighting him which scares me right now."

"His power increase scares you?" Wesley suggested with a raised eyebrow,

"Yes that and we'd gotten used to him as a friend..." And she hurriedly hid her expression by rushing back out to the cafe.

"Well...I can't not say that his time here didn't make him a friend of ours." The man sighed sadly, "I shall miss his rather dopey intelligence and talent for cookery."

"I miss him too..." Zoey sighed and brushed her hair out of her eyes, _"I miss him so much...who knew close friendships could hurt so deeply."_ She straightened herself up and put on a thin smile, "Well all we can do is just wait and see."

"Exactly Zoey, so don't go missing what's not here." Elliot said coldly without looking up from his note book as he traipsed back up the stairs to the kitchen.

"What's with the attitude?" Zoey replied cattily and gave him a glare, the teenager sighed and glanced up at her.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just that the research I'm recovering from the lab is grimmer than usual." He told her and scribbled furiously on paper with a pencil.

"Well whatever, don't take it out on me." She replied and left the kitchen angrily.

"You should really stop provoking her." Wesley said gently and Elliot snorted.

"If she became any softer then the Cyniclons wouldn't even have to try to take over our world. We may as well hand it over gift wrapped and sprayed with perfume." He said sadly, "She needs to get a grip. All of them do. They've all been so busy cooing over how beautiful Dren is when really they've forgotten just how dangerous he can get. Domesticating him wasn't very successful and now we've gotta pay the price."

"Let's hope the girls are up for it." Wesley said slowly, and mixed a cake batter readily. "If not, then we'll have to formulate a way of enhancing their powers. Which would be risky to their health..."

"I agree, but let's assess Dren first. It won't be long now. It's been too quiet and they never like quiet." Elliot said darkly. Somewhere in a fourth dimension suspended over the public library, Dren spread his lips in a smile baring his fangs greatly. And he curled his hand slightly, making the image of Wesley and Elliot vanish before him.


	11. Mercilessly hot and beyond dangerous

"Hmm...we should make your entrance great. With lots of explosions, screams of death, the smell of terror..." Tarb mumbled with a slightly dreamy expression as he lay lazily on his back.

"Hmm...I prefer the satisfaction of crushing happiness. It gives such me such a dopamine rush..." Dren replied and yawned sleepily.

"Maybe we could wait for them to go somewhere happy...like the seaside and ruin it with a horde of stampeding fire breathing, pulse emitting predacytes if you really ." Tarb said smugly as he lazed on his back in mid air.

"On a lovely sunny day...I'd prefer to relax and sun lounge myself." Dren replied slowly. And he stretched himself out in mid air. "Who has the time and patience to spend more than five minutes doing a trade mark Cyniclon cackle of victory when I could be relaxing..."

"I don't mind sun lounging or cackling...but the UV light does my skin no favours. The humans really don't take care of their atmosphere...I mean, there's big holes everywhere." Tarb replied with a frown and Sardon chuckled.

"Well we can't change the Ozone holes, but perhaps the invention of this "sun crème" would do you some good. It appears to halt the process of causing skin cell mutations in light in human skin." Sardon said dryly with a slow smile.

"I think I'll raid their primitive stores for that later." The small Cyniclon said thoughtfully looking at his pale skin. "Who know, it might save me from igniting in flames."

"You're so vain." Dren groaned with a frown, and Tarb stuck his tongue out at him.

"But so are you, with your human based grooming techniques. All those hair products and skin creams you use. They're filthy habits you should get rid of, not at all Cyniclon like."

"Do what you want and I'll do what I want. I'm heading out for recon." Dren told them irritably and his lithe body exited the dimension gracefully. Within the dimension Sardon gave a little snort, and fanned himself slowly.

"After his transformation he appears to have been granted privileges above us, granted by himself no doubt. And removing that idiotic stupor he was trapped him seemed to be a bad idea."

"Tch. Deep Blue will set that straight when we tell him. No doubt some of that new power has gone to his head." Tarb said with a sigh and closed his eyes half way.

"Indeed but for now, let his cocky mindset do what he wishes. It'd be pointless to refrain him and possibly dangerous."

"With his senses previously ruined with that gunk the humans pumped into him, there's no telling what he's up to. All these human products he uses...it's like he's trying to become one of them...starting with appearances. It's strange." Sardon said darkly and pulled up his intelligence console from subspace, ready to input more data. "We should see about reverting him to his adolescence form, he was much more easier to handle and it can't be too hard. At this rate his power is likely to be higher than ours combined."

"Only just." Tarb corrected him with a scowl.

"But that's all the edge he needs."

Meanwhile Mark was walking down a corridor intent on changing into his kendo outfit for after class activity. As he hurried into empty changing rooms he halted in his tracks. There was a slim figure leant against the lockers, his hair fell over his eyes and his ears were far too surreal to be human.

"I've been waiting for you lover boy." Came a rich tone of voice. There were undertones of a seductive manner that sent the hairs on the back of Mark's neck standing, they were tones of seduction, arrogance and power.

"Is that...you Dren?" Mark asked apprehensively and dropped his bags on the benches beneath the lockers.

"The one and only." The figure said and he brushed his hair out of his eyes. The amber eyes drilled into Mark's endlessly and he ran his hand over one of his tapered ears. Mark swallowed once as he recognized how dominant this character was, his arrogance and confidence was over whelming, stifling the air, and Dren picked up on his discomfort.

"And your brother?" The human asked suspiciously as he pulled out his kendo uniform.

"Yeah. Zoey's been lying to you. Don't believe that bull shit. There can only ever be one Dren on this planet." The Cyniclon laughed hollowly and traced his left handed claws over the lockers, where it peeled away the surface layer of metal, letting it curl with a screech into a thin ribbons.

"I didn't believe it in the first place. So what is it you want with me today?" The teenager asked him quietly as he straightened up. His ears burning from the harsh noise Dren was creating. "Last time you sounded like this you were spouting crap about Zoey and me, so what exactly is it you want!" He asked aggressively.

"Hmm...In actuality I want to destroy you." Dren said simply and leant towards Mark. He rested a cool hand on his shoulder and pushed the teen towards the locker, pinning him down with his other hand. Mark noticed his hands were cool to touch, as if the Cyniclon had a sickly health or a bad thermoregulatory system, or maybe his body was dying and sapping away any heat energy produced.

"You're phrases are so very cliché. And tiresome." The human said dryly. Dren sniffed the air and grew a broad, fanged grin. "I hate clichés." He said with a little cringing expression, "And I really do hate you." He laughed,

"Well at least the feeling's mutual." Came the stubborn reply. And Dren gave a low chuckle in his throat and changed his tune.

"But I also pity you." Mark was forced to stare into the great amber pools of the alien's eyes which were annoyingly sympathetic. "Poor little Mark. You are a poor, poor human. How could you ever compete with me for Zoey's love?" And he turned away from Mark, brushing his hair away from his eyes, flashing him a brilliant alien smile. "Look at me. I'm beautiful. No one could resist these good looks. And I don't think I need to say how futile you are compared to me. I am a brand new Dren."

Mark couldn't resist taking a close look at the Cyniclon and found that he was right. The Alien's skin was unblemished, clear, pore free, cool and smooth. His hair light, soft, clean and well styled to frame his face, even his eyelashes were dark enough to frame his eyes like eyeliner would do. His feminine features were present like the slim jaw line and long tapered fingers that made him an even more attractive individual. As if his entire appearance was moulded to be attractive.

_How could Zoey resist this? _And Dren grew a wicked smile, as he caught onto Mark's train of thought. "But I don't care." Mark replied with a scowl.

"Beauty...I have that. Power I have that. Fame? I will have that when I single handedly take over the world. Money? That doesn't matter to me when I can summon anything with a click of my fingers." Dren snarled, "I'm so all powerful that even I'd fall in love with myself." He was eager to crush this whelp's pride and arrogance. "What do you have? Fame? Fortune? Those seem to be the only things that appeal to females. But you have a kendo outfit." And he sniffed a little in disdain. "How macho."

"Listen, if I've got this whole scenario straight. You really like Zoey."

"Of course." Dren purred with pleasure.

"Then don't come running after me for trouble. You'll just upset her." Mark told him angrily.

"And why not? Eliminating you is easy, that way there is no competition for mine and Zoey's love." Dren told him and raised a hand up to him. "And the fact that you touched those lips of hers... by the museum." Mark's eyes narrowed as he realised the extent of Dren's perverse behaviour. "It was disgusting. Those lips are mine and mine alone to touch. I don't ever want you near them."

"Your jealousy is ridiculous." Mark replied quietly.

"No it's not." Dren snapped, "You kissed her and that is unforgivable."

"What I and Zoey do in our own time is none of your business."

"Oh, everything she does is my business." Dren said with a hiss. He couldn't resist talking about Zoey and seeing the jealousy rise up in Mark's face. "And what we do in our own time is MY business. Tell me you're not jealous of me because I get to touch her however I want. I've touched tongues with her and do you want to know how she tasted?"

"Stop saying perverted things!" Mark shouted angrily and Dren snickered, relishing the teenagers distress.

"She was delicious. She could say no, scream, kick and cry...but I'd still do it. I'd taste her everywhere. Because she's weak, and I'm superior-"

"You're crazy!" The teen yelled, red in the face and swung his fist at Dren's face. The Cyniclon toppled into the hall, with a hand massaging his jaw, the punch only hurt his pride. He grew a large snarl but his eyes glittered malevolently. "You're a disgusting pervert. Stay away from Zoey!"

"So you do want to compete. That's good. I **love** a challenge." Came a rich purr. And within a fraction of a heart beat Dren's hands were at Mark's face, tilting his young, fresh expression up to his own. "You're calling me a pervert? It's only because I love her so much. I want to watch her every single minute. I can't get enough of her. And I don't want anyone else touching her the way I do."

"You're a freak." Mark snarled and pushed him away. "You're so old, it's creepy! Are you a pervert for little boys too?" He snapped as he found himself pinned tightly against the lockers again, his arms straining to push him away. The Cyniclon wasn't even trying to stop the teen, it scared Mark how strong this creature was, but what was even scarier was his playful attitude. Like everything was a joke.

Dren lowered his head to his neck, he was so close he could taste the blood pumping beneath that thin layer of skin."Oh don't say you don't find me attractive." The alien laughed, and Mark felt fear slither over his spine. And he couldn't shake it off.

"I don't!" Mark snarled. And he kicked Dren back, the Cyniclon let himself slam into the lockers almost casually as he kept a menacing grin. And Mark proceeded to punch him again but his fist met with metal. The Cyniclon was gone.

"Oh but you do...pheromones are so heavy in this air, you just can't smell them. Because you're receptors aren't tuned to be attracted to me." Dren whispered into his ears. Mark whipped around, his fist bruised and sore from punching,

"Leave me alone." Mark told him seriously in a low tone.

"Oh, that's exactly what I should be saying to you." Dren said loftily and seized the teen by the front of his shirt, with supreme strength he threw the human into the corridor and watch as he crumpled on the floor unconscious. He sauntered out towards him and crouched down to him.

"Pathetic. Why he deems himself my equal is really quite a mystery." He raised his hand up to Mark again.

"And just who are you!" A high pitched voice cried out. He shifted his gaze to this intruder of the scene.

"Why...am I no one you need to concern yourself about." Dren said softly turning his gaze to a girl who was stood stock still. He approached her with unnatural speed, and a grin and looked deeply into her eyes, "Why you're so beautiful, that surprised tone of voice just doesn't suit you." He put a hand on her face and felt the blood rush to the skin in a hot blush. His other hand he snaked around her waist pulling her close.

"I-I- What- happened?" She blurted out. Dren gave a sneer, it was so clear that this girl was intoxicated with his looks, his scent clouding her judgement, and despite his alien features she was addicted to him. Not to mention his voice that was layered generously with magic, and it'd been so long since he'd had a female in his arms. He leant down so his lips were a partial distance from hers and whispered,

"Let me tell you..." His ears twitched and he looked up. Zoey was glaring at him with an expression so angry it almost made him laugh. "Why...there's my little princess." He hissed and gave a sigh. The girl he was previously about to kiss was flung against the fall with a heavy slap to her face.

"You...you...MONSTER!" Zoey screamed in frustration, her eyes were brimming with tears at the scene and Dren raised an eyebrow.

"Ouch that hurt my feelings." He purred with amusement. "How dramatic. Is that the best you could do?" He said and flashed her a brilliant smile. He began to walk closer to her and she stood her ground, albeit rather stiffly. He could tell that Zoey was angry, stunned and befuddled by a whole host of emotions surging through her. What he didn't know was that what struck her first when she rounded the corner of this hall was his attire.

He looked almost normal. He was wearing a shirt that was unbuttoned, revealing a dark vest, that was tucked loosely into some skinny jeans and converse. And she barely recognised him. And now, the Cyniclon was peering into her eyes. He looked physically the same, in his adult form, but in his eyes betrayed a boyish attitude that reminded her how this was adolescent Dren trapped in an older body. Against his will. Toying with his new found power. His language and sharp words also struck a chord with her, it was as if Dren had matured fully now...and wasn't just blank persona within a body clueless about the world. He was beyond dangerous now. And mercilessly hot. His eyes were searing through her, raising her heart beat to a fast tempo.

"What did you do to Mark?" She whispered, though she hadn't intended to, as she saw the crumpled body of Mark.

"Hmm? Oh him?" Dren said callously and glanced behind with his rich amber eyes. "He's just taking a break."

"You've hurt him haven't you!" She snapped and made to dodge past him but he easily caught her wrist and literally flung her into his body and arms. There was a moment in which their bodies made impact with each other and she felt a sweet connection between them. Something more than friendship. At that moment there was no fear or disagreement between them, just a shared mutual feeling of relief that they were back in each other's arms. Safe and content. Her head was buried in his chest, with his arms entwined around her, and he rested his chin on her head. His ears could hear her heartbeat, it was rapid and betrayed her turmoil of emotions that she would never tell him. She could feel his body heat, he was warm to touch, his musk was strong but it was all so comforting and attractive. It'd been weeks since they'd seen each other. And no one could deny that their close friendship had ended on bad terms.

Dren could feel himself succumbing to her, he felt weak and defenceless as her body was pressed against him. And he saw fit to break this precarious moment between Cyniclon and Mew Mew. Before he found that he was back within her grasp and unable to leave. "Here we are my dear." He purred quietly and Zoey quickly pushed him away from her, suddenly aware of who she was with.

"What did you do to Mark!" She asked him and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"I did nothing but knock him unconscious. It was his own fault for being so weak. He was always usch a soft, feeble creature." Dren said softly and tucked his hands into his pockets. He'd teleported them and they were stood on the roof of the school building while wind blew continuously around them, the scenery from this height was quite picturesque save for the frosty atmosphere that had now grew between them.

"He's not weak - you had better leave before I get really angry and transform!" Zoey told him with a small stammer, she'd gritted her teeth and stared at him angrily.

"Now, now..." Dren told her sweetly and was now holding her chin with his thumb and forefinger. He'd moved with such alarming speed and closed the gap between them before Zoey had even a chance to blink. "Why get so angry?" He asked her gently, the words rolling off his tongue like syrup. "It's been a while since you've seen me. Don't I deserve a kiss? A hot, romantic, love session?" And he stared deeply into her eyes. Zoey felt herself blushing furiously at their contact as he leant even closer and clamped her jaws shut. Unsure of how to deter his advances that sent her skin prickling.

"Haven't you missed me? No?" He asked her sadly and let her go with a sigh. He straightened up and looked at her with a smirk. Her unyielding expression of anger told him everything. "Such a shame. And here I thought we would make out passionately on the rooftop, before loving and leaving you. It would have been _so_ good."

"Cliches?" Zoey muttered with surprise, "Just what are you playing at! You turn up one day out of nowhere, throw a few students around and assume I'll be making out with you? What the hell is wrong with you!" She blurted aloud and Dren looked taken aback, if anything his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"_She's feistier than ever..."_He thought to himself and held back the desire to sneer at her inferiority. "What I'm playing at?" He said slowly with a rich purr in his throat. He threw back his head and gave a long laugh, his mouth revealing two sharp pointed canines that glinted dangerously within sight. "Oh you are mistaken Zoey Hanson." He looked down at her with a sharp glare that Zoey couldn't help but make a small noise of discomfort. If she were a plant, she would have wilted under such a cold, merciless glance but for a human, the very fibres of her heart shook with unease.

"Just who do you think you are Mew Mew leader?" He asked her dangerously. And he began taking steps towards her, one hand sat in his pocket, the other hand out stretched to her. Was it out of friendliness or was it dangerous? It was impossible to tell. "Do you think that your species could just get away with capturing a somewhat innocent Cyniclon, and pump him full of disgusting, vile crap spewed from hell?" Now he was staring at her with black slits and a grin that showed his fangs all too well. Zoey couldn't help but stare at the prominent canines, they were such a striking feature of him that wasn't visibly before his return to the Cyniclons. And all they did was amplify his Alien menace.

"Did you think that my foreign body deserved such rough treatment? And when I awoke, you would domesticate as you would with common live stock? I am not a common house hold pet!" He spat at her venomously. "We forged a friendship Zoey out of my pain and misery, and you twisted it to suit you. "Let's go to the zoo Dren!" "Let's go to the park!" How did you ever think that I would forget my supreme heritage and change for you? After all the shit you pestilence race of beings put me through! Do you understand Zoey?"

"Dren – We're sor-"

He reached out a hand and grabbed a fist full of her uniform, he lifted her clear off the ground and held her aloft, her blunt nails scrabbled uselessly against his pale skin. "JUST WHAT THE HELL WAS YOU DOING WHEN I WAS TRANSFORMING INTO THIS BEAST? YOUCOULD HAVE STOPPED THAT IDIOTIC HUMAN BUT NO YOU'RE JUST AS PATHETIC AS HIM!" Zoey twisted her head away subconsciously in a desperate act to avoid his rage, but he seized her jaw, his claws digging painfully on the surface of her skin, and forced it back to his snarling expression.

"LOOK AT ME! I WASN'T READY FOR THIS BODY. IT'S A PRISON FOR MY MIND AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! THE MAGIC IN ME FEELS WRONG, LIKE A BODY THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO ME. AND I HAVE TO LIVE IN THIS ABOMINATION."

"WE BECAME FRIENDS AND YOU THREW ME ASIDE JUST LIKE THAT, "I DON'T NEED YOU.", I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND YOU DON'T EVEN WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?" He roared to her, his great jaws open and fangs elongated threateningly. Dren growled deeply in his throat as she continued to stare at him with her large eyes that were shimmering with tears, a shocked expression plastered to her face. It was a rhetorical question and the muscles of his heart beat painfully as he knew she wouldn't have a satisfactory answer. A few gusts of wind blew past and neither of them moved. He felt a slight twinge of remorse as her body shivered with shock, her expression faltered and tears fell. She was fearful, genuinely full of fear of him. She didn't even have the courage to transform and fight back or argue.

Eventually Dren gave a sigh and let Zoey go slowly. She dropped to the roof top with a soft thump as her knees gave way and sat down in a stunned manner. The Cyniclon gave his nose a little sniff, the air smelt sour and her pheromones were going crazy, not to mention the scent of fear was emanating off her while adrenaline pulsed feverishly inside.

"Look at you." He sneered though his temper had died considerably down and panicking desperation was beginning to rise inside of him. He just wanted to cradle her in his arms right now. "I shout for a little bit, turn scary and you're falling to pieces. It's absolutely pathetic." He crouched down beside her and saw that she was crying. Letting the tears roll down her cheeks in a steady stream. He was surprised and tilted her face up to his softer expression, rubbing her cheek tenderly with a thumb.

"I'm sorry..." Zoey mumbled to him determinedly despite her tears and Dren sighed softly. He stroked her cheek softly with a hand, "I'm...so sorry." She wept and her body racked silently with sobs.

"Sorry fixes nothing." He replied coldly and she swallowed nervously. "You're pathetic." He couldn't give into his weakness now...if he did. The Cyniclons would brand him a traitor.

"No...I'm afraid of you Dren...I'm sorry but..." and she took a raspy deep breath, "I am not pathetic." And she rubbed her eyes and nose on her sleeve, a small amount of confidence creeping back in. Her bold response softened his anger and he felt sympathy for her, with a small amount of pride. An emotion he'd not experienced much in his competitive life as a Cyniclon.

"Alright. You're not pathetic." Is what he would have said if he hadn't been interrupted by the rest of the Mew Mew group. He rose to his feet slowly and straightened up. These idiotic humans just didn't know when not to lash a Cyniclon across his shoulder.

"So...have you have came to gaze upon my heavenly body?" He asked them teasingly and grinned as he loosely rolled his shoulder, it'd been a sharp rap from Renee's sash. The group was slightly taken aback by this new found confidence, and he liked it. It seemed many females of this world found cockiness and arrogance a trait they preferred. These girls always provided a refreshing turn of events.

"I know, I'm gorgeous aren't I?" Dren said to them and gave a little twirl so that they could marvel him from all angles.

"Shut up!" Kikki shouted and fired her tambourines at him, he glided easily between them and gave a low chuckle.

"Do you honestly think you have a chance against me?" He asked them lowly. He vanished and re appeared behind Bridget, draping his arms over her shoulders and torso. "You're all so easy to toy with." He said with glee as Bridget squealed and shook him from her. He vanished again to this time land a peck on Corina's cheek. She turned round and struck him in his chest with her arrow and he looked down at it with an amused grin.

"How very rude of you all. An arrow through my heart? Oh you shouldn't have." He commented sweetly as he closed his fist against the arrow's shaft. "I turn up, brand spanking new and you rip my vest with your dirty arrow." He tugged it out of his body where the wound was instantly sealed by magic and he held the luminescent arrow in his hand.

"We'll stop you Dren, no matter how strong you are!" Corina shouted to him bravely and he leered at her with a toothy grin.

"I sincerely hope you reconsider that my dear." He told her calmly and snapped the arrow into a burst of blue sparks with a clench of his fist.

"Why should we?" Kikki asked him aggressively and aimed her tambourine at him again.

"Why? Isn't it clear by now?" He asked them with surprise and arched an eyebrow at them. He approached Kikki who held her ground and patted her on the head when he crouched down to her level. "It's clear to me that I could tear your hearts from your chest with a simple flick of magic. I could rip your blood vessels within you to shreds and you'd be dead before you even knew what happened." He traced a finger down her neck to the centre of her chest, and she froze solidly against his touch. "Would you like me to try?"

"You wouldn't do it." The small girl told him firmly. And he gave her a devilish smile.

"Why must you lie to yourself Kikki?" He asked her with a hiss and she stared back at him innocently.

"She's not lying."

The Cyniclon straightened up and turned around. Zoey was back on her feet, her tear stained face was glaring at him and he couldn't help but smile. "I see your amongst the living again Zoey, welcome back(!)" He said sarcastically and turned his back on the Mew Mew group. She had his undivided attention and the hairs on the back of his neck rippled slightly as the teenager stared at him obsessively. "I thought you were as dead as doorknob after the roasting speech I gave to your ears. I'm surprised you're still standing."

"I know it's you Dren." Zoey said to him and he gave a small laugh as he approached her.

"Of course it's me. I'm sure I've already introduced myself numerous times." The Cyniclon said with a smirk. "Or did you want me to do that again?"

"No..." Zoey said breathlessly and she seemed to be steeling herself for something. Dren flicked his ears uncomfortably as she once again straight into his eyes with her dark brown eyes. Which were filled with grief. "You said that you loved me and-" His ears burned with annoyance that she dared bring this topic up towards him whilst his foul mood was still present.

"The only thing stopping me from tearing your neck open with my jaws and tasting your blood is my curiosity." He said to her darkly and leant down to her neck. His hands gripped her shoulders powerfully and she froze at his touch. Submissive females. Just what he liked. He lowered his head and ran his tongue over her pale, soft skin. The minute droplets of sweat were salty to his heightened senses and the blood was hot to touch under her skin.

"What are you doing?" Zoey asked him breathlessly, just over her head she could see her friends staring at them with horrified faces.

"Me?" Dren said quietly, "I'm tasting you my dear kitty cat. My curiosity is waning so I'm just waiting for the right moment to sink my fangs into you. Don't think I've forgiven you at all." And he scraped the tip of his canine teeth against her.

"If...if you're the Dren I know." She began with a shakily breath as he licked her neck once again. His moist, warm tongue was so teasing and tantalising to her, all she could do was remain frozen and bite her lip occasionally when his tongue teased her for a moment too long. But the touch of his teeth gave her a constant shiver of fear and excitement.

"And?" His rich voice prompted her.

"If you're the Dren I know then you won't destroy us so easily." She said shakily and he paused in his seductive administrations for a second.

"Why is that?" He replied with a purr. His throat vibrated against her and his warmth was so absorbing that she unconsciously had put her hands on his chest and wound her hands into the fabric of his shirt. Just as she had done when he'd kissed her. "You better have a good reason kitty cat."

"Because...because you think of us as your friends and you say you love me." She added and gave a little shudder as he rasped his tongue against her again. "Remember when you protected me from the gorilla...and you said you'd never hurt me. There's no way you've become this." She made a reference to his current actions and he stiffened slightly.

"Moi? Being so sweet and kind?" He commented hollowly and removed himself from her neck. His leave left that wet spot on her neck cool against the wind, imprinting his actions even stronger in her mind. "I don't ever remember being like that." He said with a frown and ran a hand through his hair. "Nope. Never."

"You're lying."

"Can't prove I'm not." Was the quick reply.

"No I can't. But I know that this isn't you." Zoey told him and she slowly loosened her grip on his shirt as he shot her a sharp look. She'd hit a nerve and he did nothing to mask his indecisiveness.

"Well...it's not as if you know!" He said with a high laugh and tore himself away from her grasp. "Look at the time. You good girls had better get home before big bad monsters like me get you!" He told them all with a cheeky wink.

"You don't know, do you?" Zoey began and he snapped his fingers together, disappearing from view entirely, his eyes and grin the last to fade from sight.

Dren was now perched on the top of a school locker, resting his head on his knee as he watched Zoey carry a barely conscious Mark over to the benches beneath him. "The answer is no. I can't betray the Cyniclons while falling deeper in love." He thought to himself bitterly. And he made a noise of disgust as he watched Zoey fawn all over Mark with adoration. "So confusing." He added as he watched the girl nervously looking around, his magic kept him out of her sight through a simple perception field and still this mere human honestly thought she stood a chance against him.

"Perhaps I'll pay her a little visit tonight. I didn't get my passionate kiss after all." He chuckled to himself. He rose through the building's ceilings like a ghostly apparition and perched on the roof again, where minutes before he'd been there tenderly licking her pale thin skin. _"Ah...there you go again Dren. Thinking of her once again. A very bad habit you haven't kicked yet. Not to mention all the strange human ways imbedded in you. Which reminds me...I need some sun crème."_


	12. My Love is better than His

Mark squinted at the bright light when he opened his eyes. He gave a little groan and felt his bed shift as a weight was deposited on it. He looked towards the disturbance and saw Zoey's tear stained face peering at him with worry, her hands wrung nervously into the bed sheets.

"Hey..." She said softly and he smiled grimly at her, "How are you?" She asked and helped him sit upright with the pillow tucked behind him.

"I feel a bit sore, but...I'm fine." He said softly and she gave a sigh of relief.

"I was so worried...I found you in the corridor and..."

"Did you bring me here by yourself?" Mark asked her with surprise and she nodded.

"It wasn't easy but I managed it." She mumbled and blushed as he took her pale hand in his.

"Thankyou..." He murmured softly, struggling to picture the petite girl pulling more than her own weight.

"Oh it was nothing." She laughed and squeezed his hand tightly. They rested in each other's silence for a while and Mark glanced at her curiously. She was staring absently mindedly at his sheets though her hand held him tightly. Clearly her mind was somewhere else.

"I've something to ask you." Mark said suddenly and she looked up at him with a little "huh?"

"I've wanted to ask you this for a long time."

"Ok...go ahead and ask me." Zoey replied, she felt a little uneasy as his tone of voice was sharp, as if he was waiting with baited breath for one slip of her tongue.

"Just...what exactly is Dren to you?" It felt as if he'd just shot her in the stomach, her eyes widening slightly as her response failed to gather in her mind. And still he kept talking, shooting even more bullets into her. "I mean...he was the one that did this to me. Did you know that?" And she shook her head numbly. "He said you lied about the whole brother act, which I'm sure is true, and that's not even the start of it." His tone was now accusing and raised her heartbeat to the sky. She felt like she was under scrutiny, like she had done something wrong...

"_He's annoyed at me...he's annoyed at me and Dren. What if he knows about us kissing? He'll never love me now!"_"What else...did he say?" Zoey asked him stiffly and felt her hands grow clammy as Mark's expression turned sour. For a person with such a sweet expression, the turn of moods was almost frightening.

"He said he'd been..." And Mark paused for a moment and squeezed her hands even tighter, perhaps out of anger than fondness. "He said he'd been touching you."

"T-touching me?" Zoey repeated with a stammer. And she remembered the intimate situations she was put in, with the phantom touch of Dren gracing along her lips and the heat of his crotch as it gently nudged her expectedly.

"Yes. Touching you." Mark finished flatly, "I need to know if there's something going on between you two. If there is then I'm afraid I'll just have to take a step back and let you both-"

"NO!" Zoey shouted and got to her feet. "There's nothing going on between us. We were friends but now we're not, that's all." She replied stiffly with a firm expression that raised an eyebrow on his face. _"I can't lose Mark...I could never lose Mark. He's too important to me." _She chewed her lip in frustration as she fought away lingering phantom touches of Dren.

"Are you okay?" Her asked her gently and looked at her softly. "I didn't mean to be nosy." And he gave her an adoring look that sent blushes across her face. The sort of blush that made her feel the need to bolt and hide her expression. It'd been a while since she'd felt the need to, she could always stare down Dren when they fought.

"I-I'm fine – I've gotta go!" And she dashed away but Mark hung on grimly with a small wince as his injuries pained him a little.

"Just a minute." He gasped and she paused in her motion but still daren't turn to face him. The thought of Dren's musk and touch was still causing the hairs on her body to stand on end...especially when he had licked her neck so seductively..."Zoey are you listening?" Mark interrupted and pulled her so that she had to look at him.

"What's the matter Mark?" She asked him quietly and he put a hand on her face.

"I asked if you would become my girlfriend." She felt herself paling at the thought and hoped Mark could not see it. "And I mean for real, will you be my proper girlfriend?"

"Your...girlfriend." She repeated hollowly. Her heart was thumping heavily. _"He's asking me to be his girlfriend...I've waited so long for this...What should I say? Of course the answer has always been yes...but-" _ Her thoughts floated by as she felt slightly light headed.

"What do you say then Zoey?" He asked, but this time with a little more force. _"If that had been Dren asking me he would have asked the once and demanded the answer then and there. Not...repeatedly asked me." _She thought to herself, the alien's foreign features ringing clear in her mind. In fact it was nearly all that was on her mind.

"Yes...of course I will be." She sighed out and allowed herself to be pulled into his chest, She closed her eyes in bliss as she returned the gesture. He smelt of disinfectant and bandages...different to the deodorant or the spicy musk she was used to smelling.

"Zoey?" Mark prompted her and she bolted upright. "Why are you crying?" He asked uncertainly and looked at her helplessly as she brushed tears away from her face. She didn't say anything though so he continued to embrace her lovingly. Deliberately asking Zoey to be his girlfriend was a selfish motive, he concluded. "_But there is no other way to secure her protection and loyalty from that monster." _He thought bitterly. She wouldn't be tempted to cheat would she?

Over the next few days Mark had been allowed to leave the infirmary and little questions had been asked, many thanks to Wesley and Elliot hacking into the school systems and editing the security footage. Zoey had rarely left his side but today was one day where he had kendo practice and couldn't make time for her. _"He really is such a gentleman."_ She thought with a small smile and held a photo of him close to her chest, cradling it between the palms of her hands and her thumbs. "He's so nice and sensitive..."

She found herself at the library and looked up the roof of the building where the Cyniclon's base was erected out of human sight. _"I really hope he doesn't mind me visiting Dren..He doesn't really have to know.."_ No sooner had she thought this then Dren appeared at the roof, his legs dangling over the edge as he leant down to get a better look at her.

"Kitty cat, it really is you." He said simply and grinned at her as she walked up the steps to the entrance. "The library's closed now you know. You should get home, it's not safe around here." And he grinned at her menacingly.

"I wasn't going to the library." She replied and stared up at him, not quite sure where to begin. _"What should I say to the guy who was screaming that I upset him?"_

"What's the matter?" Dren purred in her ear. She snapped her gaze left and there he was, leaning close to see every detail of her. "You look a little off colour." Another voice said and she looked to her right. There was another Dren, or rather a split decoy or double of him, which also leant down to her. They rested their chins on her shoulders and stared at her unblinkingly.

"I'm fine!" She blurted and took two steps away from them. The pair of Cyniclons grinned mischievously at her, each grin the exact same width and length.

"If you were fine then you wouldn't have come here." They told her simultaneously and wagged a finger at her in perfect unison. "So what did you want?" They demanded with a boyish wink.

"I-I just came here to-"

"You came here to get some more love didn't you?" They asked her huskily and she felt a chill creep up her spine. In a one heartbeat, Dren was behind her snaking his arms around her waist pulling her closer to his body whilst the other one walked towards her slowly. "You really do have some nerve coming here after our last little meeting, which I'm sure you haven't forgotten." And she swallowed nervously, aware of how close she was pressed to his body.

"At least you sound like you've forgiven me." And he raised his eyes brows slightly,

"I'm a fleeting creature, I can't dwell on such trifling problems like you. No matter how much I love you." He held her chin and turned her head slightly from side to side. "Hmm...you look a bit peaky." He commented dryly and frowned a little.

"What do you mean?" Zoey mumbled at him and he shrugged.

"I could mean anything. I could mean that you haven't been eating enough vegetables, or I could mean that your emotional side is going out of control, judging from your scent." He replied lightly and bared his fangs a little at her. "Or am I driving you wild?" He asked her with a low chuckle.

"You're really not making sense, and no way!" She snapped at him as he tilted her head up. She was powerless to resist his touch he noticed, as he still held her face up to him. She finally was willing to submit to his will...how very delightful. He chuckled a little and his eyes trained onto a small dark patch of skin on the side of her neck. It was impossible to miss.

"What is this?" He hissed to her and grabbed the other side of her neck tightly, forcing it to bend so he could see it clearly while she whimpered in discomfort. It was a sweet noise to him. He bent down to her neck and sniffed it curiously, he then ran his tongue over the mark and straightened up with a lethal expression. "You little whore." He spat at her. He snapped his fingers and the Dren who had his arms around her burst into green sparks.

"Why are you calling me a whore?" Zoey demanded feeling rather hurt by his insult.

"Aren't you going to be a whore soon?" Dren asked her sharply and she shook her head indignantly. "It's funny because from that _"love bite" _you have on your neck that's exactly the way you'll be heading soon. I can still taste his scent on you!" And he spat on the floor.

"Don't be stupid Dren!" She exclaimed hotly and he waved it off,

"I know all about your little rendezvous with dearest Mark. It's disgusting. All so cutesy wootsy."He snarled at her, "Why I ever let you touch me is a mystery itself. You only sullied my perfect complexion with the bacteria on your skin." He added with a false sniffle of hurt.

"You touched me first! So don't go around saying I've been molesting you – you pervert!" Zoey retorted and immediately felt highly embarrassed when he gave her an accusative look that screamed, "Oh really?", clearly indicating the time when she gripped his shirt so tightly, in a subconscious attempt to get closer. Thankfully he didn't comment.

"Judging from how I could taste Mark on your skin, you've let him get close haven't you?" He hissed after a moment and curled his hands into fists when she shifted awkwardly under his gaze.

"No, I ...we've just been going out." She replied and he gave her a grim look while folding his arms.

"Going out? That's a rich explanation. More like what he's been doing is suckling on your neck." He said scathingly and bared his fangs at her, partly in possessive rage and anger directed at Mark. He ran a clawed hand over his ears, "So...how was it? Was it as sexy and hot as you hoped?"

"No it was..." Zoey began but held her tongue as she felt that Dren was peering straight into her soul with his piercing amber eyes. They flickered over her face as if decoding a message. He could see her raw emotions she was sure, her secretive thoughts of love and desire were laid bare to him and there was nothing she could do to stop this perverse invasion. "It was good." She finished lamely and he gave a little noise of disbelief coupled with a low laugh. He extended a clawed finger and traced her jaw line, gently.

"You're such a bad liar." He chuckled and grinned at her without malice. For a moment it seemed as if he were back to himself, but moments never last for long. "It's pretty clear to me that you didn't find it satisfactory." And he noticed that she bristled a little at his comment.

"No-I-"

"Stop kidding yourself Zoey." He said flatly and advanced upon her. "You know you can't resist me..." He purred, and ran a hand through his hair while he advanced on her.

"I...just came here to talk to you." She said quietly and he sneered at her whilst leaning down.

"You might say that. But since your here and offering yourself to me so willingly-" He rasped and lowered his head to the side of her neck,

"I'm not offering anything!" She shouted and tried to push him away. Her actions had no effect on him other than ruffle the shirt he was wearing despite the force she exterted. He was stronger...so much stronger than he'd ever pretended to be.

"Oh but you are." He whispered darkly and put a hand on the small of her back and on her head. "Subconsciously you came here seeking pleasure because Mark can't give you it. You can't say that I don't make you feel like a woman, whereas precious lover boy is still trying to develop."

"That's...not true." Zoey muttered with a small gasp as he licked her neck again. This time preparing the skin. She was powerless to resist him, not to mention she was trapped without transforming and severing all ties between them.

"Yes it is. Humans aren't good enough for you now that you've had a little taste of me, aren't I right? I'm irresistible." And he traced his lips on the surface of her skin. He didn't need an answer as her hands had grabbed a hold of his shoulders, half pulling, half pushing him from her.

"Why yes, I am right." He bared his fangs and sunk them gently into her neck where the love bite was. The surface of the skin broke with a little pop and she cried out in pain. Her petite body wracked with nerves as he sucked and swallowed her blood. He disliked the taste of her blood, but this appeared to be the only way to top Mark's love "bite". Sucking on a part of skin where Mark had broken capillaries beneath the surface didn't appeal him greatly. But Zoey's untouched fouled blood did.

She could feel him slurping the blood, not greedily, but with a dogged determination as if he were forcing himself and she could feel his tongue as it pried gently into the wound urging the blood flow. It was a gruesomely intimate act as it delved into her body and he could taste her Mew Mew power flowing in her blood.

Her power stung against his own magic, causing pin pricks of pain against his tongue as they fought to repel itself from his body before digesting inside him. After a minute he straightened up, a bloody smear over his lips and she clamped a hand to her neck in mild fear and shock. "Mark can give you all the love bites he wants, but it can't top mine." He licked his lips and she let out a shuddering breath at the foul act.

"Let's not lie to ourselves Zoey. Our friendship is over. From the moment I got my memories back all we've had is a bond full of desire and lust. I just thought you'd like the table of cards laid out for you to see." And he gave her a sharp wink.

"What did you do to me?" She asked him shakily and ran her fingers over the scabs forming at the two puncture holes.

"I drank the stinking blood that made the love bite. So now you have bruises off me." And he eyed the large dark patch forming on her neck. "I don't like seeing anything of Mark's on you. So if you come here again with a little present from Mark, I will destroy you for being an irritation Zoey." It wasn't just a threat, it was a fact.

"Your being possessive Dren, and we don't have desire or lust!" She reasoned with him feeling a little more than put out that he'd so easily taken advantage of her, while knowing her denial would do little to deter the Alien.

"You're lying to yourself. But I'll leave you to think about that." He laughed and levitated a few feet. "Oh...here come my lower ranking brothers." The two Cyniclons descended from the roof of the building where they had just teleported to.

"Eurgh." Sardon wafted the air with his fan and wrinkled his nose up with distaste. "How rude...a Mew Mew on our doorstep. And she smells bad enough, but add the stench of blood and it's unbearable." He gave her a withering look as he fanned the air beneath his nose and she stared back at him fiercely.

"It's not as if I wanted to be bit by him!" She replied tersely and pointed to Dren as Tarb gave a little laugh.

"He's been planning that for weeks!" The small Cyniclon laughed, "Ever since he saw how vampires seduce women he's been-"

"That's enough Tarb." Dren growled, his voice deep and layered with warnings. His eyes flashed into black slits and the smaller Cyniclon hurriedly dashed back to Sardon's side with an impish grin. "Thank the heavens." He groaned and turned to face the pair of them. "Now what exactly are you both doing here? You're supposed to have gone out for recon."

"We've just returned." Sardon replied tersely and narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. "You however were supposed to waiting inside our dimension for Deep Blue's message. And you've probably missed it by now."

"Other things came up." Dren replied with a little shrug. And Sardon looked at him sourly.

"I'm afraid that thing over there must be neutralized." He said and pointed accusingly at Zoey. "Last time Deep Blue's message included a short sentence about removing the leader of the Mew Mew team from this planet, who coincidentally happens to be here."

"When was this?" Dren asked him shrewdly and Sardon ignored him.

"If I'm not mistaken...that girl there is the Mew Mew leader..." And he pointed his fan dangerously at her.

"You're not wrong Sardon. Get rid of her now so we can take over this world already." Tarb gave a great yawn and eyed Zoey lazily. "She'll be so easy to pick off! None of the other stinking Mew Mews are here!"

"Just a minute there." Dren interrupted with a growl, "You can't just say something and expect me to believe you."

"O great mighty Dren, don't you believe your loyal subjects?" Tarb asked him mockingly and rolled his eyes.

"Seeing as you felt it fit to leave me in human captivity for over a month for sheer entertainment, no I don't trust either of you." Was the sharp reply.

"Then the feeling is mutual." Sardon said flatly. He shot a blast of energy at Zoey who had just finished transforming, she leapt nimbly out of the way and Dren wiped away the gory mess on his face with his sleeve.

"This fight seems rather biased don't you think?" He asked Sardon who was now taking pot shots at Zoey, he was deliberately missing her it seemed to him.

"Biased? Only if you believe in fair fights." Was the dry reply and he bristled slightly as another blast of energy missed Zoey.

"If you're going to destroy her then at least do it right." Dren said wearily and levitated towards them where he slapped the fan with the back of his hand causing Sardon to gasp slightly at his impudence. "Watch and learn." He stared into Zoey's eyes and established a telepathic link.

"_Run away Zoey. Run as fast as you can back to the cafe." _

"But why?" She breathed out aware that the Cyniclon's sensitive ears could hear her clearly. If Tarb and Sardon could hear one side of her conversation they didn't betray any emotion as they stared vacantly at her. Albeit with some traces of loathing.

"_Because you don't belong here. All Cyniclons are dangerous, don't ever come here alone."_ He faced his palms together and gathered up a jade coloured sphere of power.

"I still haven't had the chance to talk to you."

"_Aha. Is that an invitation to visit you tonight then?" _He teased and allowed his lips to tug into a grin as his fingers tugged at the sides of the sphere.

"Err."

"I'm afraid you don't get a choice." Dren chuckled aloud and threw the sphere roughly in her direction. The direction was skewed but the blast force was imminent and propelled Zoey a good distance, where she hurriedly gathered her feet and fled.

"Argh, she's getting away!" Tarb whined and sighed as they watched the figure streak away into the city.

"It doesn't matter." Sardon said and retreated into the dimension closely followed by Tarb and then Dren. "Whatever it is Dren, please get it sorted soon. We don't want to offend you by picking up your duties." And he fanned himself slowly, his eyes unblinking as they bored into the Cyniclon's head.

"I don't know what you mean." He replied lightly and gave a stretch as he pushed past the older alien.

"You know exactly what I mean." Sardon hissed his eyes flashing dangerously as he pointed his weapon at him.

"Hm. I really don't." Dren snarled back and turned around to face him squarely.

"Yes you do!" Sardon roared at him, his fangs were bared and his cool composure was lost. Dren could smell the anger seeping off his elder like a bad plague, it was threatening and unpleasant.

"Listen. If Deep Blue wants that pesky human destroyed, then I'll do it." He replied calmly and ran a hand through his hair. "But until I do that...no one is going to lay a finger on that human." He growled. And he walked towards Sardon's raised weapon and rested his finger tip on its point.

"While you may be in your adult form and assume to be holding higher power than I and Tarb..." Sardon replied lowly, his weapon unwavering as Dren increased the pressure on his fingertip. "You don't dare go against our Master." He swiped the fan away from the Cyniclon's touch and returned to fanning himself. The calm composure he usually held was back and effectively masked any seething emotions he harboured. There was a cut on Dren's finger and he sealed that easily with a flick of his magic.

"I'm glad you finally worked that out." The younger Cyniclon replied evenly and tucked one hand into his pocket. "As for destroying dearest Zoey, I'm afraid to tell you that I'll be doing that at my own leisure."

"Then leisure away." Tarb interrupted with a sour expression. "Come on Sardon. We don't need to waste our time."

"Indeed." Sardon replied dryly giving Dren a roll of his eyes. He watched the pair of them fade from view back to their private dimensions and he gave a little shake of his head. _"I cut it a little bit too close today, maintaining relationships on both sides of this war is harder than I thought. The power channelling through Sardon's weapon was a little more than threatening. If I don't keep up with my power training, those two could just about overwhelm me. Then no one would be able to protect Zoey as well as I could." _He thought bitterly, his mind wandering over to Mark. _"That little weasel couldn't save his own skin never mind hers. And speaking of her...I can't wait until nightfall."_

He kept well inside his own quadrant not thoroughly wishing to run into either members of his species. And once the humans had deemed the time to be "evening", he transported to her room and found it vacated. Possibly as Zoey might have took refuge in the Mew Mew cafe. With a little "hmm" noise he lied down on her bed and decided to rest his eyes for a few seconds, maybe a few minutes...it'd been so long since he'd felt a human bed beneath him. It was oddly comforting and he was soon creeping under the thick covers. His heightened sense of smell lulled him into a light sleep as his nose burrowed deeply into her pillow, drinking in her scent.


	13. Never in my life do that again!

When Zoey opened the door of her bedroom she was surprised, but not as surprised as she should have been normally. She quietly closed the door and crossed over to the bed, crouching low beside the bed. "How did I know it was you?" She whispered and stifled a giggle as she looked at how the duvet was tucked well up to his chin, his expression deceptively peaceful and his teeth were nipped onto the skin of his index finger which was placed by his head.

The hairs on his skin prickled as they felt the heat of another presence. He snapped his eyes open and gave a wry smile. "Ah...you're here." He rasped.

"Yeah and you're in my bed." She replied stiffly with a little laugh and sat on the end of the bed as he gathered his legs so that he sat up straight. He rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand and gave a little stretch.

"Your bed is...really comfortable." Dren murmured and flopped back down on the bed with a sigh his eyes closed with bliss.

"If you want a bed so bad you should buy one if you don't have one in your little dimension."

"Buy? Me actually buy something? I reject that concept. It doesn't apply to Aliens. I might just pillage a bed from the stores later." Dren yawned aloud showing off his great fangs. And Zoey gave another little laugh. His arrogance was really something else. He glanced at her and she grinned back at him. It was hard to maintain a mortal enemy relationship when friendship seeped between them unconsciously and lowered the barriers.

"I'm sorry." And he raised an eyebrow at her as she stifled another laugh. "It's just you seem so much more like the "you" I know, then "Roar! I'm big scary Dren! And I'm going to drink your blood!"...if that makes sense." She added sheepishly. Dren gave a little snicker and reached towards Zoey. She remained perfectly still even as he wound his arm around her and tugged her powerfully over the bed till she was sat between his legs. She rested against his chest and he gave a little growl as he slumped his head onto her shoulder before yawning again. He could see the bruise on her neck that he'd given her and he felt a twist of pleasure inside him as his heart pounded heavily. She was his.

"I'm so tired Zoey." He groaned. And he heard her heart skip a beat. He knew she was in his grasp. There wasn't a chance for her to escape his clutches now that she'd willingly let her be pulled close to him. Their bodies shared heat intimately as he hugged her waist, letting their skin brush each other closely.

"Then go to sleep." Was the curt, high pitched reply. And her arm twitched. Almost as if she was debating springing out of his arms.

"I'm tired of you running away from me." He told her lowly and rubbed his cheek against hers. Seeing as Sardon and Tarb were after her life, it was now or never...

"You told me to run though, you said it wasn't safe." She began but he clamped a hand over her mouth feeling the hairs stand up in alarm all over her body.

"I'm tired of you running away from my love is what I wanted to say." He finished and licked her ear tentatively. It was an odd emotion. He was actually feeling apprehensive. Wary of the hurt she would inflict on him with words, he'd felt it once and wasn't keen on its repetition. But still, he wanted to press on. It was worth the risk. He traced her collar bone with a finger gently and felt her stiffen against his chest while arching her back to him ever so slightly.

"Dren... you know how I feel. I love Mark." And his fingertips dug into her skin by her collar bone, not enough to hurt her but enough for her to feel their sharpness. "_"I love Mark" it's those words again." _He thought bitterly.

"I know that. You say that often enough for me to know." He replied coldly and breathed out against her neck. "In fact, I know them so well, I could recite them to you." He added acidly.

"Then maybe you should stop trying so hard." She suggested quietly and he gave a low grumble of disapproval.

"What we both know is that you don't exactly dislike me." He said softly, feeling more determined than ever to pursue her. There was no way he'd lose her to that incompetent brat.

"No I don't. I like you Dren, as a friend." And there were those stinging words again. As if she'd drove a stake through his body, and still...remained so unaware. He struggled to keep his pained expression from rising and took a deep breath to steady his hurt heart.

"That's a lie." He whispered, pushing his misery aside and forging ahead with his advances. _"I want her to know how much I love her. I want her to know how much she means to me, and I want her to know that she'd never need to be afraid of me. I want to feel her love on me. But she won't listen." _

Words would fall on deaf ears now.

He leant around her and planted his lips on hers. He dove his tongue deep into her willing mouth and felt her respond equally as passionate if not more. She twisted herself so that she faced him more directly and placed her hands on his chest and he put his on her waist. Her touch felt familiar and comforting on him which only fed his hunger for her affections. _"Our relationship has already gone over the "friendship" Zoey...why can't you see this?" _ He thought with a sinking feeling in his heart. She must have felt his reluctance and they parted almost unwillingly. _"I love you Zoey."_ He thought to himself with dogged determination.

"I'm sorry." She muttered her face a heavy red. It seemed like that was all she said lately. Her mouth and chin were wet from their kisses and she dabbed it away with the back of her hand. Her cheeks were flushed red, her eyes were soft and lustful. He gripped her waist tightly and looked away from her expression. Looking abashed and beaten, his ears drooped and his eyes were hollow._"Sorry doesn't make you love me though does it?"_

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." She said to him softly feeling even more guilty as he refused to look up at her or speak. "This...is all new...to me." She was taken aback...this expression of sadness he had, she'd never seen the proud Dren looking so defeated.

"New...Yes it is. But you're not naive. You knew exactly what would happen Zoey, but still you let me do this to you." He said quietly and looked at her sadly. He dug his fingers into the fabric of her shirt and clenched tightly, as his fangs clicked together firmly.

"I-I don't know-"

"Stop pretending." Dren snapped at her and she hurriedly shut her mouth as his eyes met hers, her fingers gripped his shirt tightly. He couldn't quite decipher whether it was from fear or desire. His temper was rising and he let out a low hiss. "You knew that once I'd came here, we'd start kissing. What I don't know is what you expect to gain from this aside from selfish pleasure." His pride was hurt as he uncovered that his emotions had been manipulated by the one he loved.

She'd been indulging in his affections for long enough. It would have been blindingly obvious to anyone else. All his hints, the treacherous kisses they'd shared, she knew he was intensely interested, and still allowed him to advance.

Guilty pleasure. That's all it was.

It stung even more especially when he thought he was the one in control of this game. Instead it was him who'd been used, again and again...Teased with her body.

"I don't want anything-"

"Do you enjoy hurting me?" He asked her harshly and she shook her head desperately. "Do you like playing with my feelings?" And he bared his fangs at her. "Stop fucking toying with me." And his pulled her even closer to his body, so that his eyes stared unavoidably into hers.

Despite his anger and her fear...there was something so sexy about his rage that she was just so addicted to.

"I don't! Really, honestly, I don't." She pleaded her hands on his shoulder giving them crucial inches of distance. "I love you as a friend-"

"But what we do isn't what friends do." Dren told her sharply and Zoey froze as his words hit her hard. "And what I do to you are things you enjoy and you clearly show me that you want it. You don't ever stop me, you could screamed or ran away but look at yourself now Zoey." He paused for effect and took a deep breath. "I could so easily snap off your arms and stuff them down your throat..."

"I...I...know." Zoey squeaked feeling a ripple of emotion run down her spine. It was a delicious tingle...fear and desire combined into one.

"But I won't do that right now." Dren purred into her ear, his sweet poisonous words trickled into her. "I want something from you."

"What do you want?" She asked him nervously and he gave her a wry smile. It was a smile that made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.

"To scrape my fangs along you and taste the sweat that drips off your skin. I want to taste every part of you and I want you to love me for it. I want affection and you to run your hands through my hair while I lick the surface of your flesh..." Dren whispered to her in a hushed voice as he indulged in all his fantasies."Of course...it's not all about me. You want something from me."

"What do I want?" She croaked out and bit her lip nervously. It felt to her like he'd been peering into her heart again. Looking at her most hidden thoughts and secret desires. And then dragging them kicking and screaming into the light. He was right about her...but only just. Denial was a dangerous game she played.

"Love." He replied hoarsely. And he pushed her forcefully onto her back, pinning her with his body. "You want to feel and experience all kinds of love and pain. But you just don't want to admit it." He breathed out to her, his eyes were lidded halfway in pain and lust.

"I..." She began and sighed dejectedly. It was true, her denial wasn't going to change it. Everything he had worked out in his mind was true. The pleasure he gave her was special. It was hot, exciting and electrifying, not to mention he'd been the first to stir such untapped emotions in her. Part of her desired him, his touch, his personality, she almost craved him. Yet the part of her remained fiercely loyal to Mark. But was this taboo relationship too hot to resist?

"Zoey?" Dren murmured and licked her cheek tenderly.

"Huh?"

"I'm right aren't I?" He muttered and she nodded meekly, embracing him tightly. Hoping to ease the pain she'd caused him. He'd only wanted to love her, but she'd led him on and always stopped him when they got too close.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled her eyes welling up with tears.

"It's alright." Dren crooned into her ear. "It's not your fault I'm so damn hot." He joked and smiled as he heard a choked laugh beneath him.

"You're not that hot..." Zoey murmured slapping his chest playfully and he shifted so that his nose brushed against hers.

"Am I not?" He asked her sweetly and licked her lips lightly. "Oh you've hurt my feelings again." He chuckled and kissed her again.

"I'm sorry." Zoey said once again. Except this time it wasn't sincere. It was coy and toying. She was _teasing _him.

"No you're not." Dren purred giving her a fanged smile. He growled throatily as he rammed his tongue down her mouth and tussled slightly with her as they fought for dominance. Naturally Zoey soon submitted and allowed him to lead his advances.

There was no fighting a Cyniclon with smouldering good looks.

Soon one hand was under her shirt and his claws graced her skin tenderly. He pressed his hips closer to her slightly wet underwear that was exposed as his nudging had flipped her skirt up. He wanted her to feel his erection. To feel how aroused he was and to tell her what he wanted. She pushed back against his thick member that pressed hard against her cotton underwear and raised her legs slightly from the bed allowing him to press even harder. It was just a hint to her that the barrier between them needed to be gone.

It felt a little dominating as Dren took charge, his advances came first before she reacted but it was comforting to have someone take charge for once. She gave a muffled groan as the bulge rubbed impatiently against her. She put her hands on his shirt, running her petite hands over his slim, defined body once she'd undone the buttons clumsily and he nipped her lip lightly. The hand under her shirt used the claws present on his hand to cut through the threads and expose her torso.

With their torsos partially exposed, and the most private parts of their anatomy straining to get at one another, they paused for breath and stared deeply into each other's eyes. "We shouldn't be doing this." Zoey breathed aloud. She was nervous but her excitement was overriding any guilt she harboured currently. Her ears and tail had popped out a moment before and the tail out of her control was wound tenderly around his thigh giving their relationship a strange twist.

The Alien seemed completely in his element and was savouring every moment of their contact, oh how he had longed for this moment. To have Zoey all to himself. Free to ravage her body how he liked. He could have bit into her again if he wished and she wouldn't have complained, she was in his grasp and was oh so easy to manipulate. But then came her human emotions, letting doubts creep in between them. "We really shouldn't..."

"No we shouldn't." Dren breathed out, his breathing was harsh and his eyes a dark amber. "But you're irresistible, I have to feel more of you Zoey." He nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck and inhaled her scent deeply and she gave a little giggle.

"That tickles!" She laughed and pushed him away. He grinned and nipped her neck playfully leaving two sore red marks. She felt the pain and it suddenly occurred to her, just how taboo their relationship was. He was an alien, an extra terrestrial. He had an alien body, an alien mind. How could they ever...engage in sex? Did Cyniclons even have sex? Perhaps they hatched from eggs or were spawned from machines. Not to mention what his sperm, if he had any, would do to her virgin womb. "Ahh...I have a question." She mewled quietly.

"Hmm?" And he looked at her quizzically. He could smell anxiety growing on her and uttered a minute hiss as his impatience took a hold of him. His erection was painfully neglected and demanded physical contact.

"How...would this ever work... between us?" And Dren gave a low chuckle.

"Our species have a more closely related physical anatomy than you'd ever had imagined." He told her and grazed his fangs on her neck leaving two thin trails of pink, sore flesh. She arched her throat up to him and gave a little meow of pleasure as the hairs on her tail bristled.

"So...does that mean...you have...normal boy parts?" She asked him and pulled her hands out from under his shirt so that they rested on her shoulders.

""Boy" parts aren't developed enough to be used sexually I believe Zoey. But if what you meant was my male reproductive organs...then yes, they are as normal as a man's'."

_A man. _Zoey blushed furiously and her chest rose and fell rapidly as she acknowledged the size, and weight of his body that was so different to hers. But yet it felt so right and wrong for him to be so close to her. "I..." She rasped aloud and Dren placed a slender finger over her lips, silencing her.

"I don't think you're ready _my virgin pussycat_." He rasped to her with a smirk. Her scent was thick in the air as was his musk, but he could pick up the stress her body was giving out. And it would do him no good to begin fucking her senseless if she was going to stop him halfway from fright. Not that she could but he'd prefer to keep their love on her good side and what better way than to just...wait.

She'd crave him eventually.

Zoey blushed incredibly red and felt embarrassed as she tugged her skirt down as he sat up straight and got off her. She noticed his crotch area was no longer straining as he rested an arm on his knee that was tucked close to his chest. "Why...did you stop?" She mumbled and clutched the two sides of her shirt closed with a small fist.

Dren gave a low laugh, and he put a hand on her face, his fingers strong on her jaw, pulling her close again. "I said...because you're not ready." And his word was absolute. She gave an obedient nod and let him kiss her again. This time he was a little too rough and his fangs drew blood from her lips. She gave a mewl of pain and he paused for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I sometime forget how sharp they are...here." He tenderly licked the small wound on her swollen lips and placed a finger over it. Green sparks immediately healed it and she ran her fingers over the smooth closed wound.

"I didn't know...you could heal people..." She said softly and he blinked once, the great pools of amber hidden from her sight for a fraction of a second. "If you could heal people then you could help a lot-"

"I can do many things. I just choose not to." Dren interrupted and nimbly hopped off the bed. This conversation about him was leading to something uncomfortable and he'd rather make a quick escape. He walked over to the window but Zoey leapt after him,

"Is that it? You're just going? No conversations about how you've been? Or what you've been doing!" She demanded fiercely her hands gripping around the front of his shirt. He was slightly taken aback but put on a wry smile.

"My sweetest kitty cat...I'd love do to all of that." And he smiled at her darkly, "But with your breasts swinging so freely for me to see all a Cyniclon can do is restrain himself from touching them. Going to have to love you and leave you." And he winked at her.

"AH! PERVERT!" Zoey screamed and hurriedly grabbed the fronts of her shirt together. Dren sweat dropped a little, he'd gotten a fabulous look at her petite breasts and they'd done a lot more on the bed just then, but still she was embarrassed. _"Cute bra though."_ He laughed inwardly thinking of the strawberry patterns on the pink bra. And by the time Zoey had looked back up at him, he'd teleported miles away.

"Wow...I didn't realise that I'd been so forceful." Mark murmured and Zoey snapped her gaze up to him with alarm spreading through her. He was pointing at her neck as he walked her towards the Mew Mew cafe, and the bruise was more prominent than ever as it had turned a nasty purple shade, coupled by two thin tails of pink skin where Dren had scraped his fangs against her.

_Dren...scraping his fangs along her neck and tenderly licking her with his raspy tongue._ She grew a little hot under the collar as she remember how the Cyniclon touched her neck.

"Zoey are you listening to me?" Mark interrupted her thoughts and misty eyed expression by pinching her cheek playfully.

"Huh...Oh yeah!" She laughed sheepishly and put a hand on the back of her head.

""Oh Yeah!" Isn't the reaction I was after." He said with a little smile as he draped an arm around her shoulder. He was shorter than Dren she noticed so his head was closer to hers, as opposed to Dren's chest. "I was asking how come the love bite I gave you ended up bigger and has something like scratches on your neck?"

"Uh...I've been scratching it and you know how bruises are, they spread before healing." Zoey laughed nervously and rested her head on his shoulder in a bid to hide the bruise from sight.

"Ah I see. Sorry about that." Mark laughed and gave her a quick peck on top of her head.

"It's no trouble." She replied quietly and they walked along slowly. She enjoyed being in his company...it was amiable. But there was no...fiery passion or slivers of fear stabbing into her like when Dren was around. Her heart wasn't trying to leap or jolt around inside her, but one look from his piercing gaze told her that only Dren could see straight through to her soul... _"Ack! I'm thinking about him again!" _ Zoey flinched a little and Mark looked down. She had a cross expression on and her fists were bunched together tightly.

"Something annoying you?" Mark asked her with a raised eyebrow and she gave a little jump of surprise.

"N-No...just spacing out as normal!" She laughed and he gave a sigh and squeezed her shoulder gently.

"You've been doing that for a few days now, sure you're alright?"

"_I can't say anything about Dren to him...who says that Dren's been annoying me anyway?" _She thought obstinately and shook her head at Mark who gave a shrug in response.

"Just remember you can talk to me about anything you want." He said softly. But somehow those words just didn't seem so reassuring or as passionate if _that_ Cyniclon had said it. "Zoey?"

"Huh?"

"You did hear me right?"

"Yeah..." She replied breathlessly and they stopped walking for a moment as Mark turned her to face him.

"Whatever's bothering you, I wish you'd tell me." He said sadly and Zoey felt a pang of guilt as she bit her lip and threw her arms around him in an embrace.

"I know I can tell you Mark...thank you." She mumbled into his chest and he gave a small laugh. "Let's carry on walking, I've gotta make it to the cafe."

"What are you on about Zoey? We're already here." Mark laughed and ruffled her hair as she stared up at the cafe's entrance.

"So we are." She sighed and sagged slightly in his arms. "Another day of work..." He kissed her on the forehead and gave her a brilliant smile. She smiled weakly at him and detached herself from him.

"I'll call you after I finish Mark...See you later." They gave each other a quick peck on the lips before parting ways. Somehow her interactions with Mark had become hollow as time had gone past. All she could think about was Dren...how Dren was so much more hotter and dangerous. How she craved that dangerous taboo relationship with him. How she loved the fear he inspired in her when he threatened to tear her skin with his claws.

"Thinking about me again Kitty cat?" A voice purred aloud and she looked to the left of her. Dren was leaning against a tree, with his hands tucked into his jeans and his shirt loosely buttoned.

"N-no!" Zoey squeaked, her heart racing impossibly fast. He ran a hand through his hair and began to walk towards her with a smile that showed only a glimpse of his fangs. He was close to her now...so close...She felt like she was about to faint with excitement. What on earth was up with the rush of blood to her cheeks?

"You're looking rather red today, but you weren't red before with Mark." Dren commented wryly with a high laugh. "What's the matter?" And he used a slender finger to tilt her face up to him. She felt her breath catch in her lungs as she waited for the kiss. For a kiss she'd dreamed about and replayed in her mind countless times.

"N-nothing..." She muttered and he raised his eyebrows.

"Your red expression, raised heart beat, and irregularity in breathing only tells me that you're infatuated with someone..." He purred to her. He bent a little so that she could stare at the smooth complexion of his face and deep amber eyes. "Could it be...that the person you're infatuated with is me?"

"A-ah-" Words wouldn't form in her mind and she could do nothing but stare at that beautiful face...so full of mysteries, secrets and danger...

"Cat got your tongue?" Dren laughed and lowered his head even closer to hers. She immediately closed her eyes expecting a passionate tongue romping, lip crushing and she left her mouth slightly parted for him. _"I never thought he'd ever have this effect on me...without that Cyniclon musk and without using his magic." _She thought furiously feeling herself grow even redder.

Dren had half lidded eyes as he contemplated forcing his lips down on her. But he could smell Mark's scent lingering on them. And the stench stung his nostrils. And if he were to possessively claim those lips for his, he'd end up hurting and healing those lips, so he straightened up and ran a finger over them instead. There'd be time for ravaging her body later. She snapped open her eyes in surprise and she smirked at her. "So soft...I wonder...does Mark kiss you as good as I do? My kisses are delicious...but are his?" He asked her softly, but he couldn't completely hide the hatred burning inside his eyes.

"S-Shut up! I love Mark." Zoey blurted and pushed his hands away though it wasn't a natural action. It just felt like she had to _try_ and resist him. Even though she couldn't.

"Alright say what you want but –" Dren began giving her a wink but then he snapped his head up towards the cafe doors.

"Ah!" Zoey exclaimed as she turned her gaze towards the cafe. Elliot had swung open the doors and was standing on the porch, his chest heaving with effort and his brow covered in sweat.

"**Never!**" He gasped, "Never in my life – do that again!" He shouted harshly his words sounded harsh as he inhaled gulps of air whilst pointing shakily at her, though it was unclear if the finger should have been pointed at Dren.

"D-do what again?" Zoey asked innocently. She felt a wisp of air brush past her and noticed that the Cyniclon had teleported away. _"He's gone...he left without a word...I hope he comes back soon to visit me..." _She thought wistfully. But for now Elliot demanded attention.

"INTO MY OFFICE NOW!" A few moments later, Elliot had sank into his chair with a hanker chief in one hand and was feverishly mopping his brow.

"Are you alright Elliot?" She asked tentatively her hands wringing with anxiety...this time the Cyniclon wasn't here to give Elliot some sarky comments to relieve her stress.

"No." The teenager replied obstinately. "No I am not alright Zoey." He dropped the hanker chief and stared at her fiercely with inter locked fingers as he propped his elbows on the desk. "Just exactly how long has this been going on?"

"Er...a-about two months?" She squeaked. Elliot was a frightening person and now he was livid. He had shot up off his chair and leant across the desk threateningly.

"How did I miss this! Exactly what were you both doing?"

"Ah-"

"Don't "Ah!" me! Do you even know the repercussions of your actions! The danger you've put us all in! The danger you were in!" He began growing another sweat on his brow. His voice was strained as he struggled to keep the fear at bay.

"He's not dangerous!" Zoey pleaded bunching his hands into fists. She couldn't help defending him and she knew Elliot would take it all the wrong way. Which he did.

"Not dangerous? Not dangerous!" His mouth was agape in mouth and his fingers were pressed so hard on the desk, that they threatened to gouge chunks out. "He could swipe out a city with one little swipe of his pinky! Look at these energy output predications! They're likely to make me go into cardiac arrest!" And he produced a great graph with a red streak that had a positive correlation the longer the time passed.

"Exactly!" Zoey pointed out, pulling the graph from his hands. "He could do that, but he hasn't!"

"Maybe because he's been too busy flirting with you!" Elliot spluttered and pointedly accusingly at her.

"That means he's on our side then! Isn't that a good thing?" She pleaded, her mind already wandering onto Dren as she wondered if he was listening in on this conversation. Also whether or not he would approve of her support for him. Maybe he'll nip her ear as a gentle sign of his displeasure or maybe-

"EARTH TO ZOEY! GET OFF PLANET CYNICLON ALREADY!" The echoing boom of Elliot's voice burst into her ears and she snapped her attention back onto him. He gave a long sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "How can you be so naive Zoey?" And she gave a little shrug. "Before getting romantically involved with him at least, at the very least, could you not have realised you were different species?" He stared at her coldly and she drew a deep breath.

"I...it never crossed my mind." She said slowly, and she saw Elliot turn an unsightly shade of blue. Possibly from containing his rage. "Okay maybe I did think of it, but before the Cyniclons found Dren, we'd already bonded, he's my best friend...a bit weird sometimes but...I do like him, but-"

The teen's eyebrow twitched with irritation, "Argh! Not another "but" out of you!" He snapped his patience thinning. "I want you to end whatever you've started with Dren and return as the Mew Mew leader! No more kissing, no more hugging, no more touching! We cannot have our strongest member fraternising with our strongest enemy! It just doesn't work! It takes the two main pieces in a game and pulls them both out of play – not to mention the biological effects his alien DNA will do to you when you both get in bed!" He hissed at her, jealously pooling into annoyance in his eyes.

"We haven't gotten that far yet!" Zoey interrupted and he seemed to deflate visibly.

"Yet? As in...what? Don't tell me you're both getting there?...No -Don't answer that Zoey, I know you're not as thick as you suggest you are. Just...get out of my sight before I have an organ failure through stress." He groaned and dropped his head on the desk in defeat.

"Alright..." Zoey mumbled and left the room with a sheen of sweat on her skin. Her hands shook slightly, and her heart ached a little. _"Why is my heart...hurting so much?" _She thought to herself and bit her lip as she knew she was being deliberately ignorant. _"I know why...it's because I miss Dren...and now...Elliot doesn't want me to see him anymore...but I need him. I can't..."_ And before she knew it, something wet was travelling down her cheeks and she blinked a few times her vision blurring slightly.

"Another annoying human emotion." Dren hissed slightly as he bared his fangs. Zoey wailed and threw herself into his chest, pressing her face into his shirt, she felt the Cyniclon sigh slightly and rest his hands behind her head, gently cradling her close to him. It was such a sensitive motion that caused her to cry even more. How could she lose such a dear..."friend" to circumstances outside of her control?

"Oh come on Zoey." As she sat between his legs and cried against his chest pitifully. His ears were burning slightly from the high pitched wailing and his shirt was thoroughly soaked with tears and creases had formed where she'd clenched at it. "You've been crying for ten minutes now, at least tell me what's on your mind. Don't make me use psi powers to investigate."

Whether he was bluffing about psi powers or not, she didn't particularly want to find out. With some hiccups and rapid inhalations she finally stemmed the stream of tears and paused for a second to look at their surroundings. "We're at the top of the park, I highly doubt Elliot can find us here since I've set up a camouflage shield around us." Dren murmured and stroked the top of her head. He'd let her cry continuously till he sensed she was ready to talk. Females really were far more emotional than males.

"Elliot...did you hear what he said?" She asked him quietly and turned around so that he couldn't see how flushed her face was, or the bashful expression she had on. She turned towards the beautiful scenery as they sat upon their favourite area in the park, this time beneath a great leafy tree.

"I heard." Dren muttered and twitched his ear in annoyance, "That shade of blue he turned was rather amusing". He wrapped his arms around her comfortably as he leant back against the trunk of the tree, pulling her close to him. She closed her eyes and relished his comfortable warmth. The strength of his arms, the beats of his heart, the rise of breath in his lungs, everything about him she cherished. He was precious to her...and Dren thought the world of her. How could Elliot force them apart?


	14. To Love and Lose Zoey

Author's note : This does contain a lemon scene, and the story is M rated so I hope no one finds it offensive, but otherwise have fun reading and thankyou all for supporting me!

"I hope you don't intend to accept what Elliot said." He growled to her throatily, and she felt the vibrations of his throat rumble against her.

"I...I don't have a choice do I?" She replied with a sigh and she clutched his arms tightly. Not wanting them to let her go.

"That depends." He said and made a hmm noise as he gently licked the hair on her head. It was a just a little lick to show his tenderness. That was another aspect of him that she had learned to adore. Being alien...really wasn't a bad thing. "I think...that you should join the Cyniclons." He murmured.

"No." Zoey replied instinctively and stiffened slightly.

"Think about it. That way I don't have to destroy you, and we can still be together." He told her softly.

"Dren... you sound like you want to say something...go on." Zoey muttered, acknowledging that she'd been neglectful of his thoughts so far. He gave a low chuckle and she twisted round to look at his beautiful face.

"The only thing I want to say to you is that...I love you Zoey." He murmured the partial lie so sweetly. And she felt herself become powerless as he gazed at her with those alluring eyes.

"Mmmf!" Zoey exclaimed as Dren pushed his head towards hers, locking his lips with hers. Dren resisted the temptation of thrusting his tongue in her mouth, and he chose to scrape his fangs lovingly across her soft lips. "I...also came to tell you, that I have orders to destroy you." But still, that wasn't the whole truth.

"I...thought you'd say that." She muttered and rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes in peace. A long silence ensured as both of their minds fell into the same mindset. Their relationship, their friendship, would never work as long as Cyniclons and people around them interfered. But to remove these obstacles, would be to destroy their world as they both knew it, an option Zoey could never accept and he would suffer Deep Blue's punishment more than likely to end in his death.

"So...what are we going to do Zoey?" Dren asked her quietly after a while and pulled her body even closer to him. He could feel his heart sinking with disappointment and she made a mewling noise of distress.

"I don't know." She replied bleakly and he knew the truth in her words. There was nothing they could say...

"We could...destroy both groups of interfering parties." Dren suggested cheekily, nipping her ear gently. Zoey gave a laugh and slapped his shoulder playfully,

"You know Renee would be all over you before you could start shooting magic everywhere!"

"That's true, she scares me." Dren laughed and Zoey giggled happily as she nestled against him. By now the sky was turning a soft hazy orange melded with blue hues and the Cyniclon sighed softly as they relaxed together. "You know...you forgot to go to work." Zoey's hair stood on end as she bolted halfway to her feet, before Dren's arms caught her in the waist letting her fall back into him.

"Not a chance. Elliot isn't making you work anymore than you need to." He purred and she smiled warmly at him, "If I had my way I'd scratch his eyes out for saying such disgusting things to you."

"Only because you say even more disgusting things to me." She teased and he gave her a gentle lick on the cheek.

"Only because you like it." He replied promptly. "I need to return to my dimension now, do you need me to accompany you back home?" He asked her gently and she shook her head.

"My dad would never approve of you." She muttered with some embarrassment.

"No he wouldn't." The Cyniclon said wistfully, "Neither would he approve of all the things I'd do to you." He teased and Zoey squirmed a little.

"Stop saying things like that, we're in a public and-"

"So you're saying you'd prefer the atmosphere to be elsewhere in private?" Dren laughed and stood up taking her with him. She made an obstinate noise and he chuckled wrapping his arms around her. With a little use of his magic he transported them to her house, always keeping her close as his magic did not always approve of foreign objects in contact with him, which was partly why his destruction power was so powerful.

"Thank you anyway Dren." Zoey replied with a little laugh as she glanced at her windows of her house, fully aware that her parents could be peeking behind the curtains at her.

"Not a problem." And they met in a light brief kiss. A kiss that left her wanting more. She smiled warmly at him and he back at her, with a tight embrace and with reluctance, he transported away, leaving nothing but air in her arms.

"Is it done?"

"Hm?" The Cyniclon looked up and his brethren were staring at him with accusing eyes. "Well isn't it my dear members of our species come to mingle with me in my glorious presence." He purred loudly towards them. Sardon continued to waft his fan in peace, the expression on his face impassive whilst Tarb raised his hands slightly.

"Watch your tongue!" Tarb snarled. "We got a lashing today because Deep Blue discovered that the Mew Mew leader is still alive! We told you to get rid of her!"

"Oh?" Dren replied and cocked an eyebrow at him as he laid back in the air, suspending his body in mild defensive magic. He could sense the tension between them growing with each second as he slighted their concerns. The time for dodging the consequences was over.

"Yes." Sardon interrupted, his eyes turning into an even darker hue of colour as his rage built. "And unlike you..." He fired a slash of energy at Dren, which sliced over his hand, leaving a fresh bloody wound. With a yelp Dren shot to his feet, his tongue licking at the wound which had soon stemmed its flow of blood. "We do not have favouritism towards humans. Nor we do we find them "cute", "sexy" or do we have the need to protect them." Sardon finished dryly, his weapon still trained onto Dren who was currently crouched defensively towards the floor. "It's sick the way you look at those humans, don't you see how bizarre your attraction to her is? It's repulsive."

"Shut up! No one asked for your opinion!" With a hiss Dren replied, "Neither of you have the power to overcome me! And IF I choose to destroy Zoey, it will be at my own personal leisure!" Sardon narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"You are an absolute idiot!" The Cyniclon's voice had twisted to a deeper voice, full of power and masculinity. Inside he could feel his instincts clawing at him. Telling him to be aware, and what they didn't tell him his fear did. Sardon was furious. "Our mission will not suffer because of a love struck fool like you!" he thundered, the menacing aura of power creeping towards Dren.

"Don't think you can best me!" Dren roared, his characteristic amber eyes turning to black slits as he acknowledged this challenge. It was like his encounter with the gorilla in the zoo, this was no different. Just another mammal wishing to harm Zoey, and what he swore back then, what he told her before was all true. He'd never let anything harm her. She was his and his alone. To love and to hurt.

"And do you think you can take us both on?" Tarb shouted, his scrawny body bunched up with tension as he prepared to launch himself savagely at him.

"If I had to! I could destroy you both!" Dren roared and swept his hand in a large arc towards Tarb. A blast of energy rammed into the Cyniclon who was sent sprawling through the dimension severely injured. "Stupid Cyniclon." Dren muttered watching the adolescent form of Tarb crawl weakly to his feet.

"He may be, but I am different." Sardon commented flatly and Dren uttered a low hiss, flattening his ears. This older Cyniclon had proved to be dangerous, slicing through his defensive magic we little effort. "You see...Deep Blue became very concerned that you would attempt to over throw our little team here due to your tainted magic still inside you. And so he gave me direct orders to remove obstacles within our mission, namely you if you dared defy his orders. And do believe me Dren when I say, I can defeat you."

"So I'm a threat to be removed?" Dren replied sniffily. "You're all so pathetic to be wasting efforts on me."His enemy lashed out another energy wave which caused him to leap out of the way.

"Your insolent behaviour needs to be curbed." Sardon said dryly as the Cyniclon crouched defensively on a rock out of physical reach. **"Do not think that because of your tainted blood keeping you in adult form has granted you greater privileges than I! It's only a matter of time!"**

"Shut up! I am more powerful than you!" Dren roared arrogantly focusing both palms of his hands together on Sardon. They each ejected a concentrated beam of magic that struck Sardon's shield conjured from magic. The offensive green beams of energy split in all directions as they rebounded off him but still Dren kept up the attack.

"Do not forget that Deep Blue owns your life! You are his and you must obey him!" Sardon snarled, sweating coating his brow as he struggled to maintain his shield. The younger Cyniclon was a powerful magic conjurer...but he lacked experience.

"I know that! But Zoey will not be harmed!" Dren snarled, his attention slipping for a second and that was all Sardon needed. His shield pierced between the two beams of attacking magic and blasted a weak shot straight at Dren's chest which sent him reeling away, with a small plume of smoke.

"Ah..." Dren clutched at his chest, where the shot had burned away his shirt and the surface of flesh. A few muttered words and the wound was healed, but the pain still lingered within him, not to mention his shirt was ruined... Sardon panted heavily, his chest heaving with effort. And by an unspoken mutual agreement, the fight was terminated. The elder Cyniclon's rage was spent and Dren had been humiliated by his lack of strength.

"We cannot best each other it seems through fighting, then I shall have to resort to authority." Sardon replied. Dren flicked his ear in annoyance, authority was one thing out of his control since Deep Blue had integrated it whereas within combat, there was always a chance of victory. He sheathed his weapon and Dren lowered his hands.

"I will give you one more week Dren. And if you have not succeeded by then, as your commander I will report this failure to Deep Blue and you will receive punishment as it is fit. Not to mention I'll have the permission to purge all that tainted blood from you."

"Pah!" The young Alien spat at him and the Cyniclon blinked once.

"I take it as a yes then."

"_Deep Blue's words are absolute...there's nothing I can do to escape the destruction of Zoey by my own hands..." _Dren thought to himself gloomily as he rested his chin on his knuckles as he sat hunched over the edge of a building. _"I could always join that accursed Mew Mew team but then...what would be the point in my attempt to take over this planet? I'd only be out casted as a freak and ridiculed by that_ _Elliot...leaving this planet is not an option, neither is ridding my world of Deep Blue...for once there isn't... a favourable answer. _

_Only ones that end in our separation. Perhaps two species truly cannot interbreed without conflict." _He sighed deeply and lazily watched a couple stroll pass the building he was perched on, giggling in glee at each other with their hands held together tightly. If he and Zoey were ever to do that in public, there would be the government's military forces upon him in a flat second. Not that he would ever feel threatened by them.

"_Humans are such a primitive race, they are far too young to understand the possibilities we could achieve together...and Cyniclons are plain pig ignorant." _He hissed lowly in distaste as he thought of Sardon. "Still...no use crying over spilt milk...it's not as if that bastards going to apologize."

He had waited a few days within his own dimension, carefully honing certain attacks that would prove effective against Cyniclons specifically, and now he had ventured out into the dusk, where he was sure Zoey would be eagerly awaiting his visit.

"Ah...I'll see you tomorrow Mark!"

"Okay. Bye Zoey..." Mark muttered and lowered his head for a little kiss. Dren saw her flinch a little and nimbly ducked her head to the side so that he ended up hugging her awkwardly instead.

"I've gotta go now! Thank you for walking me home!" She laughed and detangled herself from him. She hurried into her house with a quick backwards wave at him which he returned with an albeit forlorn look on his face. She closed the door quickly before he could see any more of her troubled expression. After the door was safely shut and the face of Mark was blocked out, she let out a great sigh of relief. She let her work bag drop to the floor and soon followed it. She sank down to the floor and rested her head on her knee, and closed her eyes. The house was empty. Only the gentle tick, tick noise of the clocks reached her ears and she felt the familiar stir in her chest.

"_I'm thinking too much again...why do I have to keep thinking about him? Mark can tell I'm distracted, and I just...cannot be bothered...explaining to him...that I..."_

"Thinking about something kitty cat?" Dren asked her. She opened her eyes and was relieved to see his beautiful alien face staring down at her. He crouched down to her level and tilted her chin up to him.

"I have this feeling that you're about to cry..." He murmured sniffing her lightly. "Yep...I smell hormones running everywhere in you." His eyes met hers and her lip wobbled slightly. Once again he knew exactly how she felt, he really was staring into her soul. But she didn't mind this time...it might be a perverse act on his side, but she just didn't mind. It was comforting to have someone so close to her in this way, it felt as if he were her soul mate. The one being determined by fate to share her life to closely, to know her inside and out. "So...was it Mark again?" He asked her quietly.

"Mhmm." Zoey nodded and threw her arms around his neck. "Stay with me please." Dren's eyes widened slightly. It wasn't often her voice sounded so cracked with emotion or did she venture out to him seeking comfort of a different kind. Her fingers were wound tightly into his shirt and he gave a low chuckle. He dropped to his knees so she didn't have to reach that far and he nuzzled an arm with his nose.

"That's an interesting request of me." Dren muttered to her lowly. He was teasing with her now, wondering how much she desired of him.

"I-I know it's selfish of me...but I don't think I could deal with Mark. Having to explain everything to him, every little detail I have to tell him, it's so much hassle him always being so clueless about why I'm upset or why I'm busy thinking...But somehow, you just know. You know what I think about half the time." She muttered to him and rested her forehead against his as she closed her eyes.

"Hmm...It's only because of my higher senses." Dren purred and closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her slim frame. She felt so fragile in his hands, so petite, so weak...Her inferiority to him made his protective surge of emotions twist even stronger. As long as it was within his power, she wouldn't be hurt, emotionally, or physically and his power was vast. If need be, he'd suspend her body and mind in his magic to shield her away from the world. But human minds were fragile, and hers could easily snap under such stress. "But even so Zoey...don't feel too bad for being human, I'll always be with you."

"But you can't can you?" Zoey muttered, her throat tightening as if Dren's hand had seized it forcefully.

"If you're talking about our inevitable separation in the very near future, then your statement is true. But if you think of my statement as a kind sentimental saying, then it is also true." Dren told her, his intelligence showing behind his eyes, "There's no way around it, so let's just...enjoy this moment." He hugged her even tighter and she pressed herself into his firm embrace. "Let's go upstairs."

Zoey could feel her heartbeat match his as he led her up the stairs and to her room. His hand so smooth and warm against him, his "claws" were not lengthened for battle but still long enough to be alien, and his mischievous smile could only tempt her even more as it slyly betrayed his intentions. He closed the door behind her and she turned to face him with a sheepish smile. There was no need to look seductive, there wasn't any need for sexy lingerie, all Dren really wanted was her exactly as she was. And it was a beautiful notion that he didn't want anything material in their world, but then again he wasn't from Earth.

"Come here." Dren murmured and she walked towards him. He took her over to the bed and they lay down together beneath the covers as if it were the most natural thing between them. It suddenly didn't matter to the Cyniclon whether or not they became intimate with each other now that they were so close, his desire was soothed by her mere comfort. All those threats from Sardon simply vanished. And they lay on their sides staring into each other's souls, baring their true selves to each other as they lay in each other's warmth. His hand was rested on her waist and her hands rested on his chest. Her cat like nature within her was crying out to him promiscuously but she didn't want to rush...no she was going to take her sweet, sweet time with her Alien lover.

"You've got those eyes again." Dren muttered with a little laugh and she looked at him in surprise.

"What eyes?" And he tapped her nose delicately with a finger so she blinked once.

"Those eyes." He murmured, "They're the eyes of a lusting woman, and the eyes of a cat who wants the cream." Zoey blushed a little at his mention of "lusting" and "cream". Those subtle hints of erotic behaviour were all she craved. His sly ways of manipulating her made her feel so vulnerable but she liked it. He was dominating and powerful and he could so easily over power her. But no, she was being treated so tenderly.

"Mmm...you look like your struggling to say something." Dren commented as he noticed the rush of blood to her face, not to mention her human heart pumping furiously in her chest. "Do tell me." His honeyed voice was laced with seduction and she uttered a little gasp as the emotion in her chest gave a great leap.

"I-I want to touch you." Zoey mumbled and shut her eyes tightly. Dren flicked his ears in amusement, and a grin spread across his face. Oh how delicious it'd be to have this little Mew Mew writhing in pain and pleasure as he slowly entered her.

"Well...go ahead." He replied coolly though he felt a rush of pleasure that this human was so naive when it came to these situations. "Look at me..." And Zoey snapped her eyes up to his face, he was wearing a smile as he took her hands and gently guided them to his torso where they slowly began to roam.

He gave an inward chuckle as she traced his muscles in fascination. Just how different he was astounded him as it did her. Her masculine frame was larger and much heavier than she. His skin was pale but warm to touch, and occasionally she could have swore that a flicker of green ran beneath his skin. He smelt masculine and his musk became even stronger the lower her hands went down his body. His entire body was hairless and smooth...he was beautiful. And now her fingers traced the button on his jeans, wondering if she'd dare make that step. Her heart was pounding in her chest so loudly that she could hear it herself, and she knew that he could hear it even louder than she.

"I used to wonder if we are so different inside as we are out." Dren said slowly and his hand joined hers down at his crotch. He slowly began to undo his fly and button whilst Zoey kept her eyes trained on his face, feeling her cheeks flush from anticipation where as his expression stayed cool. "And I think I've come to the conclusion, that we are different but we're the same. Exactly as you once said." She was speechless as he planted a kiss on her lips. His heart maintained a steady rhythm as he explored her tenderly, it'd be troublesome for his pride if she realized how wild she drove him.

"If you don't speak Zoey then I've no choice but to force my cock into your pussy."

"WHAT?" She exclaimed bolting upright and sending the covers flying off them, but by now Dren was giggling furiously.

"I knew saying lewd things would set you off." He laughed and wiped away a few tears of laughter.

"What a way to kill the mood..." She sighed and slumped down to the bed beside him. She was close to touching him...so close.

"You're telling me you want to be in the mood Zoey?" Dren purred and he moved so that he was positioned behind her before leaning down over her back to whisper in her ear.

"I didn't say anything of the sort." She replied huffily.

"Then is it okay for me to tell you how much I want to run my tongue all over your sweet virgin pussy?" He purred and she felt a jolt in her lower region, and her knickers began slightly damp. With only, his rather filthy, words and body heat he was turning her on.

"You...want to lick me out?" She asked him with a shaky breath.

"I do indeed kitty cat." He muttered lowly with a growl. "But first...I'm going to touch you." She turned her head to his slightly, probably to object, and he captured her mouth in his larger one whilst slipping in his tongue to touch hers. Her innocent words and tentative behaviour was threatening to ruin the scene and that was perhaps one of the last thing he wanted to happen. His slim but large hands slid up her shirt and pushed under the bra where his fingers caressed her small breasts and pinched ever so slightly on her nipples. His claws scraped across the delicate skin and she drew her knees up slightly and arched her back to him. His body responded to her movement and his other hand snaked down to her jeans where he deftly cut through the fabric

His hand was gradually getting soaked as he gently plunged a finger into her womanhood. It was warm and tight but he was ever so careful to sheathe his claws, it wouldn't be much fun ripping her from the inside out. _"If I don't do this now...then tomorrow, I won't have the chance to."_

She made a muffled cry as he touched her in sacred places but it was a cry in pleasure. His fingers were working magic on her body and the bulge in his pants was growing hotter with each second as she responded eagerly to his fingers. Her body may be young but she was old enough to be touched by a male. Be it a man or a Cyniclon.

By now her lips were a swollen red and saliva dripped down from the corners where their mouths failed to clamp together tightly whilst their tongues writhed against each other. He parted from her lips and the hand under her bra sliced open her shirt with ease, through the bra also before wiping the excess saliva off his mouth. It was a scene that was so erotic that his fangs showed and his talons were elongated in his excitement where he'd failed to sheathe them. Instinctively she pulled the torn clothing off her till she lay on the bed clad in only her knickers. Her cheeks were a red flush and she felt more excitement than embarrassment but she still wanted to explore this new world he had opened for her. Dren had barely threw off his clothes before Zoey wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace, pulling his body on top of hers clumsily.

The thin fabric of his boxers failed to hide his male counterpart as he pressed into her with a low growl. Zoey felt a little sigh of relief as she extended a hand down to his crotch and tentatively groped. There was only one penis and his ball sack...no scary alien tentacles thank god. "You can squeeze harder than that kitty cat." Dren purred into her ears and he made a rasping noise as she reached into his boxers and gave the erect member a gentle tug. It was warm, firm and thick to feel. There was a spot of wetness at the tip which betrayed his eagerness. She gave a little smile and began making faster movements though a bit jerkily through inexperience.

He sheathed the length of his claws slightly as one of his hands slipped back down her panties to resume its seductive torture, his other hand had its claws embedded deep into the pillow, threatening to tear it's stuffing out. "Does it feel good?" Zoey asked quietly feeling slightly embarrassed when Dren turned his eyes onto her. His face was flushed red slightly and he gave her a fanged smile, the fangs more prominent than usual and his eyes were a soft amber with black slits for pupils. _"Why must we be separated so soon? My heart hurts to think about it."_

"Damn right it does. Although, will you do us both the pleasure and let me in you?" He asked her sweetly and licked her neck. She gave a little gasp at the touch and nodded. He slid off her knickers and his nostrils smelt the scent of her womanhood. It smelt tangy and sour and his tongue would have craved to lap up the lubrication her body gave but right now...something else wanted to touch her there. He pulled down his boxers, or rather slashed through the band of them seeing as climbing out of it would only take up a few seconds of his precious life span.

Zoey abandoned her rhythmic motions and wrapped her arms around his neck, as he took hold of his engorged member. She took a quick glance at it and she hadn't ever imagined his male parts to be so _human_ looking. Her eyes snapped up to him as he positioned himself against her. A few moments later she could feel something hot and intrusive push its way into her. It was an incredible sensation with a mixture of pain. She could no sooner stop herself from gasping than Dren could stop himself thrusting his way into her with a little growl of pleasure.

He could smell blood as he broke through a thin membrane inside her, she was emanating so many rich sounds and scents to him that he felt an information overload. The wet noises as he made love to her, to the thumping of her heart and smell of her arousal would be made into very dear memories. He increased his thrusting as he sensed his own urgency, it was a selfish desire but humans were easily pleased. And this human was definitely pleased.

Unconsciously Zoey had lifted her legs to clamp around his slim frame and allowed for deeper penetration. And because she had, her lubrication was leaving a little wet patch on the bed when Dren hadn't melded with her body. She could feel herself tightening around him and she watched through lidded eyes as his Cyniclon expression became even more Alien. His fangs were elongated to where they protruded visibly and his amber eyes were now a deeper brown. There was something so erotic and taboo about it, the way that they were joined together as one, human and Cyniclon, that made her love for him increase.

"_My adoration for you kitty cat...is so strong, that it hurts. It hurts even more now that our time is coming to a close."_

"I love you ." Dren breathed out to her,

"I love you more..." Zoey muttered,

"Not as much as I do." He snapped cheekily.

His hands gripped her shoulders as his pace increased drastically, their bodies slapped together roughly and she knew there'd be bruising tomorrow. That tension had built up inside her begged to be released. Not to mention the way his claws had drawn blood from her arms, she was pinned well and truly beneath him as he fucked her. "Argh!" Dren grunted, gnashing his fangs together and Zoey gave a little gasp as she felt hot liquid invade her, his hand slipped down and he sheathed his claws slightly. His hand began rubbing at swollen nub at the top and she felt fear rise up before an intense release of pleasure that was almost involuntarily. He felt her squirm and cry out beneath him as his hardened member began to soften. He felt drained and slowly pulled out of their sticky joining.

"Heh, heh...looks like I wasn't able to give you a socially obligated warning for ejaculation." He muttered coyly and she gave a little laugh.

Zoey panted heavily and resigned to curl up in his arms after exchanging a few kisses. His senses were dulled now but the semen dripping out from her had a heavy scent and their bodies had a sheen of sweat, and their lower bodies were wet with liquids. "Dren?"

"Mmm?" He purred and closed his eyes as he sniffed lovingly at her hair.

"I'm so sore..." She groaned feeling the pain of her hips and lower region.

"I'm sorry...it'll go away soon. Or would you want me to use magic to dull it?" He suggested raising his hand where green sparks were already gathering.

"No thank you...but will I end up having an Alien baby?" She asked him tentatively and ran a finger towards her crotch where they were instantly coated in with her lubrication and his semen.

"If I were a human you would have a baby. But because I'm a Cyniclon, a similar species, we're able to interbreed in theory."

"Is that a yes then?" Zoey asked him nervously.

"It's actually a no...Cyniclons are a supreme race so anything biological we out compete. In this case my sperm contain far more chromosomes than possible to form life. So you've got no worries." He told her with a large yawn, his fangs had now receded to their normal size she noticed. At the same time she noticed blood seeping from wounds on her shoulders.

"I appear to be bleeding..." She muttered and sat up. There were several thing gashes of where his claws had broken the surface of her skin, but if he could have tore off her shoulders if he really wanted to.

"Here, I'll heal it up. You won't have a mark on you afterwards." Dren lazily raised a hand to her but she shook her head.

"No thank you. When we go back to our own groups, I wanna keep this to remember you by."

"It's not as if I'm dying and you want some thin scars as a memento." He laughed hollowly and looked at her fondly._ "Although truth be told...I don't have enough time left." _

"Well, I'm going to get cleaned up!" She said cheerily and gave him a peck on the cheek before leaving presumably for a quick shower. Dren sat up slowly and with a little wave of his hand cleaned up any mess he'd caused on the bed. Another quick flick of magic and their clothes were fixed and he was fully dressed again. He had to be quick, he'd delayed for too long...Sardon and Tarb would give him a hard time if he was any later.

"Well, I'm feeling all fresh and clean!" Zoey laughed coming back in a while later with a towel wrapped around her wet hair and some loose pyjamas she'd grabbed before. Dren stood up and watched her closely. He wanted to see everything he adored about her. "Are you alright?" She asked him sensing his tense disposition and unwavering gaze.

"I do love you Zoey." He stated feeling emotion well up in his stomach.

"Aww I do too..." She giggled and reached out to him with open arms. How could he resist such a sweet expression on a pitiful mammal? If he couldn't do it now, he'd never be able to.

Time seemed to stand still as he looked at her with different intentions. He was suddenly so aware of their difference and the impossibility of them ever co-existing peacefully, their views, upbringings and duties to others, all conflicted.

"Stop." She heard the low growl in his throat and froze instinctively. Something had changed between them.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly and looked at his face. He turned away slightly and let his hair hide his expression. He could feel shame running through his body now.

"I love you. It's all I can say, I love you." He raised the palm of his hand to her and she saw a familiar green orb of magic form.

"I don't understand Dren, what are you doing?" She asked him fearfully. She could see his expression...his heart was fracturing and tears fell openly from a face of anguish. She tensed a little and moved towards him, but the orb of power grew even larger.

"Dren you're scaring me – what's happened?" She asked him tentatively,

"I'm sorry. But it's because I love you so much. I love you." The last three words echoed into her ears as the green orb of magic blasted into her forehead. And she felt nothing, she could see nothing.

"I had to do it." His words rung hollow in her ears.


	15. Just the ending

Hello my beloved readers! I'm so glad you've decided to read my story and many thanks to you all, but here's the final chapter :)

Dren's power had knocked the towel off her hair and blasted her off her feet. But before she slammed into and through the wall he nimbly caught her. She felt so frail and limp in his hands, as if she could snap in two if he didn't treasure her carefully.

And he wept even harder. This was torture. His heart ached with a pain only deep love could cause. And he crushed her body close to his, sobbing into her shoulder as he sank to his knees cradling her. Never again would she see him in the same light. Nor would she ever feel the same way as he did. The thumping of her heart was receding and his own beat a lonely tune of anguish. The tears fell freely and his chest shook with distress. His lungs heaved rapidly and he whined a frightful tune.

His one love was gone now. And he was alone.

He could hear footsteps approaching the house and he stiffly detached himself from her and dried her hair with magic before sweeping the bangs out of her pale face. The wounds on her shoulders had clotted roughly and he waved his hands. Green sparks jumped and embedded themselves onto the skin, they would numb the pain till scar tissue could form over the scab.

He laid her fondly on the bed that they'd only just mated on. It was perhaps one of the cruellest notions possible, to leave a loved one so soon after bonding physically and emotionally. _"This was all for the best. I knew we wouldn't have a future together. Any future we had was ruined the moment we were born as separate species. My sweet, sweet kitty cat...we were destined to fight without love." _ He kissed her tenderly on the lips. And he savoured how soft her lips and plump her lips were to him. _"I won't be able to touch these lips ever again..." _He could hear keys being pulled out of a bag, then the lock clicking in the door.

"Oh my sweet, sweet Zoey..." He murmured and brushed away tears before stroking her hair for one last time. He knew that if he didn't leave now. He never could. He passed a streak of magic into her head before leaving...it'd be his last gift for her future.

Teleporting back to his Cyniclon base was more of a nuisance than anything, it was all so fast... His tear streaked face earned him a grin from Sardon which only added to his grief.

It was too soon...too soon to be here and face the consequences. Ah...his heart was beating sorely. A tear stained face was one thing but emotional pain from loss of a loved one, was indescribable...it was a pain that time had a slim chance of healing and magic could not fix it either.

"Did you do it?" Sardon asked him tensely and he hissed lowly as a reply. "I'll take it as a yes then. Congratulations. You've proved yourself to be a Cyniclon brother once again."

"Don't congratulate me." Dren snarled back at him.

"Very well. There is just one more question...are you ready to submit yourself to Deep Blue?" Sardon asked him with a raised eyebrow. Dren snarled his fangs at him and he moved himself over to the centre of the dimension where Tarb attached rolled up the long sleeves of his shirt.

"I'm not ready no but I'll still do it." He replied dolefully and he bit his lip as the older Cyniclon chuckled emptily. Tarb rushed around him clamping thick metal bands around his wrists. The metal bands were positive and negative nodes...even his paltry knowledge about Cyniclon tech told him that much.

"You agreed, your mission is complete, I can't see Zoey's life signature on screen anymore and you had your fun with the girl. Looks like your life is pretty much complete. What else did you want?" Sardon asked him and folded his arms as he leant against the console coolly. His unwavering eyes registered the torment on Dren's face and he gave a smirk.

"Or did you want to become human and live out your golden years with her? Have ickle babies with her? You could even get a job and provide food for the family! Little Dren Junior and Zoette!" The Cyniclon gave a chuckle and Sardon scowled at him.

"Those names suck." Dren laughed at him hollowly. And he retched for a minute before coughing out a think black, red substance that glinted ominously in the light as it dripped from his mouth and clung to his chin.

"You're an even bigger fool than what I thought. If we don't expel the tainted magic from your blood you know it could permanently damage your adult life cycle when you _eventually_ get there. But for now this premature "forced" state is a danger to everyone, especially to yourself seeing as you let it incubate in you for so long." The metal bands on his wrist gave a few whirrs as machinery configured itself to match his DNA and stream of magic.

"You know if I wanted to, I could just break all this machinery-" And Sardon hissed at him angrily.

"Don't be such an imbecile. You know that you cannot maintain this form without shortening your own life span. And I thought it was clear enough to you that our species is short on magic weavers already, we can't afford to have one wasting his life for the sake of the emotion "love". But I'm glad you realise she won't love you back when you're an adolescence again." He snickered and Dren roared at him,

"YOU'RE WRONG! SHE LOVES ME!" And he clenched his hands into fists, feeling his claws draw blood from the palm of his hand. He was useless against them.

""Loved" should have been the correct verb to use."

"You don't know anything."

"Oh but I do..." Sardon grunted, "I know a Cyniclon cannot exist as a human, or even pretend to be a human. Do not ignore what you are. An adolescent Cyniclon, not this teenager trapped in an adult's body." Sardon droned at him. "Well, the bands look calibrated now." He said as he glanced at the console.

"Are you ready?" Tarb asked him slyly.

"It won't be pleasant." Sardon added dryly but couldn't resist a sneer as Dren stared at him with cold, unforgiving eyes.

"Bring it on."

"Your pain, my amusement." Sardon deftly pulled a small lever down on the console and Dren could feel the wrist bands heating up. The heat passed through his skin without breaking the surface and began filtering through him, the tainted magic was suckered towards the negative node on his right arm whilst his pure magic travelled unwillingly towards the positive node. Effectively separating the two strands of power. His body shook violently as he felt his ever present magic pulled away from his soul. The negative node gushed out the tainted blood through the pores of his skin till it his entire head was drenched in the sticky fluid.

His skin emitted cloudy fumes to combat the overheating of his body and his limbs jittered uncontrollably. _"We could have lived together, we could have had children, I only needed to alter my DNA with magic. But now, I've submitted myself. I was weak Zoey...and I couldn't stay by your side..." _He felt his knees hit the floor as they failed to uphold his weight. He felt his bones shrink and crush the excess marrow out till they decreased in size and density, and his organs pumped out the extra protein till they became their original size. His skin tightened and shed excess material whilst new cells grew rapidly to meld the new skin together and his limbs clicked back into places as his life cycle was reversed.

"It's lucky he's a magic weaver, otherwise he'd be more than unconscious right now." Tarb commented as he nudged the limp Alien with his foot. "He theoretically shouldn't still be alive...such a shame, that theories are just theories."

"It was more gruesome than I thought it'd be, all those cracking noises and shedding of organic bits. Eurgh." Sardon commented sniffly and waved his fan where all the _mess_ Dren was lying in was whisked away to sub-space and incinerated. "All that organic material and useless magic is disgusting..."

"It's all over now though." Tarb sighed with relief, "No more "_I love you Zoey! With all my heart!"_ Or even more sickening phrases he manages to conjure up..."

"About that..." Sardon said slyly and walked closer to Dren. "It'd be unfortunate if he were to pursue her again...who knows how that reversed transformation might have affected him. Why...he could have even lost his mind."

"Yeah...we wouldn't want that to happen!" Tarb sniggered as Sardon pointed his weapon at the Cyniclon.

"Of course not." He blasted a thin beam of energy into the Cyniclon's forehead and chuckled, "That should do it."

"Hmph...Sardon, you're not going to like this." And the small alien pointed towards the projected screen of the city, where a small pink dot was flashing every few seconds.

Sardon growled deeply, "You lying bastard!" And kicked Dren hard in the chest where a few ribs could be heard breaking with loud snap.

"Zoey! Right, sit down!" Elliot groaned as he paced in front of his desk impatiently.

"I'm already sitting down." She replied with a sigh,

"Irrelevant!" Elliot snapped at her, his eye balls bulging slightly. "Spill the story! I want to hear everything you've done with Dren from day one!" And he pointed dramatically at her with a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other.

"Erm...I've no idea what you're on about." She replied flatly, "Was it really necessary to have this thing on me?" and she tapped at the thick helmet of metal that was strapped to her head. It made a few beeping and whirring noises as she did.

"Of course. It records your brain waves and transmits them to my computer so I know that you're not lying." Elliot scoffed at her. "Now out with it! Are you a double agent for the Cyniclons?"

"No way!" Zoey laughed and Elliot took down some notes hastily,

"Then why did you date Dren!"

"Date Dren? Are you out of your mind Elliot? That's crazy! I've got Mark! No way am I going near that creepy thing!" Elliot's eyebrow twitched as he pieced the puzzle together.

"Okay...who's this?" And he pulled up two photos of the Cyniclon.

"That's Dren the weirdo, and I don't know who that is. He's really hot though..." Zoey giggled and Elliot sighed.

"That's enough for today, go back down to the cafe and send Wesley up to me."

"O-Okay..." Zoey muttered and yanked the machinery off her. "Oh...can I borrow that book on your desk?"

"Theories of the mind? Go ahead..." Elliot replied stiffly and she picked it up with a beaming smile at him. She could feel his piercing gaze following her closely. And she walked down to the cafe with an uneasy feeling, what did he mean, date Dren? And why was everyone else looking at her oddly?

"Hiya Wesley."

"Oh hello Zoey." Wesley smiled at her though it was a sympathetic smile. "Did Elliot want me?"

"Yeah, you may as well go up now, I think he's a few screws loose." She replied to him stiffly and walked rigidly out of the kitchen to where Corina was sat sipping tea.

"Everyone's looking at me real weird today." She mumbled as she sat by her friend.

"It's to be expected." She sighed and put down the tea cup. The lack of answers was really annoying her now,

"Why? What's happened?" She demanded, "Corina, you gotta tell me why everyone's acting weird!" Corina stiffened visibly and Zoey slammed her hands on the table.

"Fine. Don't say anything. I'm leaving here for today." She muttered and stomped outside the cafe, leaving the door swinging violently in her wake.

"It's not her fault." Elliot murmured besides Wesley. "Well this was all the evidence I needed, turns out Dren wasn't lying in the video."

"Urgh, it's such an annoying attitude he has...but at least he's done the right thing." Wesley groaned as he clicked on the video file on the computer. "It's been a week since we found it but still Zoey is so clueless..."

"Hello puny insects!" Dren's voice revered powerfully through the room and his grinning face appeared on screen. "In case you're wondering what this is, this is the "memory file" I stored in Zoey's head which I'm sure that arrogant blonde scientist of yours will easily locate once you scan her brain. But enough about how fabulous I am..."

And he stepped aside to reveal Zoey limp form which lay on the floor behind him. "This is a pre-recorded message but her beautiful body should be lying there right now. And her mind should be currently in the process of deletion, but don't you worry humans, its selective deletion. When she wakes up she'll have forgotten all about this Dren." And he pointed a slender finger at himself.

"And if you thought Cyniclons were just going to give up this planet then you guys can dream on, 'cause I going to wage war on your race!" And he clutched at his chest visibly and grimaced, "Just you wait. When I've reverted I'll still be strong enough to wipe you all out." And the message finished leaving the image of Dren's pained face frozen on screen.

"Well...who knows why he did that eh?" Wesley muttered and sighed,

"It was surprisingly kind of him. But Zoey can't ever know about this otherwise she'll be tempted by him and that'd be troublesome." Elliot said flatly and proceeded to wipe his computer's memory. "Get rid of everything Dren related Wesley, and double check that the other girls are still keeping their mouths shut. That's what his message was designed for."

"Designed for?"

"Yeah...he wants to forget any of this ever happened. All the pragmatics and semantics are there." Elliot said slowly,

"I feel bad for him." Wesley muttered as he picked up a thick wad of papers, "Think of how hard it must have been for him to do this."

"I doubt he could maintain that form for much longer. I did some blood samples on him before he left us and it turns out our experiment was extremely toxic to him, I'm surprised he survived for so long." Elliot groaned and looked at his desk. "Where's the disk?"

"Which one?"

"It was the one with the recording of the gorilla incidence with Zoey. It was right on my desk before." Elliot groaned and held his head in his hands, "And she went and took it along with my book... I'm going to have a coronary incidence one of these days."

"Oh ho! What's this!"

"You better give that back!" Zoey shouted at him with a fierce expression. "Otherwise I'll have no choice but to hurt you!" And she transformed, pulling out her weapon that had Dren sneering.

"And hurt me with a few bells? Don't make me laugh kitty cat!" And he trained his fixating stare on her dark eyes. He tapped the disk on his chin thoughtfully,

"Whatever could you be hiding in this disk? Secret photo's of Mark maybe?" He laughed and Zoey grew a dark shade of red. "I do deserve to know though."

"No you don't!" She squealed in reply and fired at him but he dodged it easily in midair.

"Ooh, but who was it kitty cat that interrupted my sun bathing? I was enjoying the sunshine and peace before you walked all over me!" He grinned at her as she leapt up a tree to gain altitude so that she could stand at an even height with him.

"Then don't turn invisible when sunbathing!" She snapped at him and his scrawny body shook with laughter,

"It was camouflage! You can have this back but only if you play a game." He purred to her after wiping away the tears of laughter.

"A game?" Zoey repeatedly blankly, but her curiosity was spiked and there was no going back. She leapt down to the floor seeing as he'd descended.

"That's right kitty, a game...a lovely game of whoever wins this fight gets the disk." Dren told her and began circling her, his feet barely grazing the ground. "Because you're so cute, I'll go easy on you."

"You talk too much!" She replied with exasperation, "Strawberry bell – attack!" He batted away the jet of power easily but kept his eyes fixated on the disk.

"What is this?" He hissed at her angrily. She flinched slightly as his appearance, the elongated fangs and pupils slitted in anger. "Our game's over! I asked you what the hell is this!" He snarled and slammed her into the trunk of a tree with his hand at her throat.

"I don't know!" She gasped, her hands scrabbling on his hand. He held the disk between a finger and thumb carefully, "I got it from Elliot's desk!"

"**This is ridiculous**." His heart was racing as his magic allowed him to read the data encrypted on the disk. "Gorillas in the zoo...why am I fighting for you?" He breathed out under his breath. And he slowly loosened his grip on her. Images, and sounds were rushing into his head now. Was he imagining it? He swore he could smell the scent of danger as he replayed the moment the gorilla roared at him.

"_Why are my hands shaking?"_ He thought nervously feeling a build up of guilt in his stomach. "I-I'm sorry." He muttered and took a rattling breath. Zoey watched him curiously, the Cyniclon seemed to be trapped in his own little world, caged within his thoughts.

Dren felt a searing pain across his arm and saw that she had scorched streak of flesh on him whilst snatching the disk away. And he hadn't even noticed. "Ouch...you hurt me deep." He ran a tongue along the wound, feeling where the flesh had died and fluid leaked out. This wasn't the time to be contemplating when he was in danger of getting hurt.

He heard her heart rate increase..."It appears we have a history that is unknown to us." He purred to her, and she raised an eyebrow. He swallowed once and pointed at the disk she held,

"I'm sure you'll have questions for your precious Elliot after you watch that." He said and she was thrown off guard as he gave a stretch and yawned in front of her. It was such a natural action that she'd never thought Cyniclons were possible of.

"Well I'm done for the day Princess Zoey, I've got other things to be thinking about." He turned away from her and felt a shiver pass over him. _"Princess"_ Why did he select that word in particular? "Bratty" would have been a better adjective.

"...Prince Dren." She muttered quietly,

"What did you just say?" He snapped,

"Prince Dren." And she laughed, "You know...you were actually cute as a kid." And she giggled as the Cyniclon did a double take.

"What?" His eyebrow ticked in annoyance. At first the disk's data had unsettled him but he could handle that with some careful analysis, but now this? _"What on Earth is this girl on about!"_

She walked closer to him and smiled warmly at him. "You know what I'm talking about." Her expression was kind and he didn't understand it...but she didn't smell of malice, and neither were his instincts warning him of danger. In fact he was feeling at ease.

The Cyniclon leant closer to her, his devilish features softened greatly as he smiled without his alien fangs. "Should I know what you're talking about?" He had to get the upper hand here and not appear as a "fish out of water" so the human saying went.

"Yeah...I can't believe you've forgotten." She laughed and blushed slightly as he leant in even closer, his expression quizzical. He held her face gently up to him with his slender fingers, and one claw traced the outline of her jaw that sent shivers down her spine. And now his other hand was on her shoulders, his fingers playing with a lock of hair. She'd never noticed how nice his eyes looked or how smooth his skin was.

"How about falling in love with me?" He asked her bluntly.

"Wha-What? No way!"She slapped his hand away but only opened herself up to attack. In which Dren dove close to her and left a ghost of a kiss on her lips. She squealed and pushed him away from her in a flurry of movement, all the time her cheeks a rich red.

"Fall in love with you? Not a chance!" She declared determinedly.

"It'll be interesting though." Dren laughed and massaged his cheek where she had unintentionally punched. He knew he was walking into dangerous waters, but still...the person in the video was unmistakably Zoey and himself. He had to know what of his memory had been wiped? It was obvious that was the case but what happened between them? The only way to find out was to retrace his steps. Starting with the Prince and Princess syndrome they'd both developed.

"So, why am I Prince Dren?" He asked her tentatively and she burst out with peals of laughter.

"I'm sorry! Hahaha! Sit down and I'll tell you." And she pulled him down so that they sat cross legged from one another.

But in the end curiosity... would kill the cat.

I hope you enjoyed reading it! Although I thought the ending was a little lame haha...


End file.
